Max Lucado Daily: A Father's Day Remembrance
I remember my first Father's Day without a father. Perhaps you do too. For thirty-one years I had one of the best. But now he's gone. He is buried under an oak tree in a west Texas cemetery. It seems strange he isn't here. I guess that's because he was never gone. He was always close by. Always available. Always present. His words were nothing novel. His achievements, though admirable, were nothing extraordinary. But his presence was. Like a warm fireplace in a large house, he was a constant source of comfort.
He comes to mind often. When I smell "Old Spice" aftershave, I think of him. When I see a bass boat I see his face. I hear him chuckle. He had a copyright chuckle that always came with a wide grin and arched eyebrows. And I knew if I ever needed him, he would be there….like a warm fireplace!
From Dad Time
Genesis 27
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”
14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” he replied.
25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you heaven’s dew
and earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.”
30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob[a]? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39 His father Isaac answered him,
“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
40 You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.”
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Peter 1:3-5
Praise to God for a Living Hope
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Insight
Peter begins his first letter with a complex greeting. After addressing God’s “elect” who are strangers in the world and scattered throughout different areas (v.1), Peter uses the struggles of this life to highlight the glory and security of heaven. He speaks of the permanence of their home and inheritance in heaven—it is “kept” (v.5) and can never spoil or “fade” (v.4). Peter reminds them that they are shielded by God’s own power. He reiterates the confidence Jesus gave His followers in John 10:27-29: Those who belong to God, the elect, are held safe and secure in His hand.
We’re Safe
By Marvin Williams
[God] has begotten us . . . to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. —1 Peter 1:3-4
The United States Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Kentucky, is a fortified building that stores 5,000 tons of gold bullion and other precious items entrusted to the federal government. Fort Knox is protected by a 22-ton door and layers of physical security: alarms, video cameras, minefields, barbed razor wire, electric fences, armed guards, and unmarked Apache helicopters. Based on the level of security, Fort Knox is considered one of the safest places on earth.
As safe as Fort Knox is, there’s another place that’s safer, and it’s filled with something more precious than gold: Heaven holds our gift of eternal life. The apostle Peter encouraged believers in Christ to praise God because we have “a living hope”—a confident expectation that grows and gains strength the more we learn about Jesus (1 Peter 1:3). And our hope is based on the resurrected Christ. His gift of eternal life will never come to ruin as a result of hostile forces. It will never lose its glory or freshness, because God has been keeping and will continue to keep it safe in heaven. No matter what harm may come to us in our life on earth, God is guarding our souls. Our inheritance is safe.
Like a safe within a safe, our salvation is protected by God and we’re secure.
For Further Thought
What about your salvation brings you the
greatest joy? How does it make you feel knowing
that your salvation is kept safe with God?
An inheritance in heaven is the safest possible place.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 13, 2014
Getting There (3)
. . . come, follow Me —Luke 18:22
Where our individual desire dies and sanctified surrender lives. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself (see Romans 12:1). If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you— and His experiments always succeed. The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from being totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint there is this amazing Well, which is a continual Source of original life. The Spirit of God is a Well of water springing up perpetually fresh. A saint realizes that it is God who engineers his circumstances; consequently there are no complaints, only unrestrained surrender to Jesus. Never try to make your experience a principle for others, but allow God to be as creative and original with others as He is with you.
If you abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, “Come,” then He will continue to say, “Come,” through you. You will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ’s “Come.” That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus.
Have I come to Him? Will I come now?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Only A Reflection - #7155
Friday, June 13, 2014
You know, some of God's most impressive artwork is under the water or under the ground. I was reminded of God's extravagant beauty when our family toured some caverns lately. And, you know, there were a few touches from man there; they'd put in some walkways and some lights. But all that did was help us see this rare beauty of soaring stalagmites and underground canyons and rock formations of every conceivable texture and shape.
For me the highlight was this little pond called Mirror Lake. It was only about six inches deep the guide said. That really fooled us because it looks like it's really deep. And as you look into this glass-like pond, you see a vast assortment of rock formations; big and small. And they appear to be under the water. Notice I said they appear to be. They're all, actually, on the ceiling of the cave above the lake. It really is hard to believe, because it looks like it's in the lake. Well, the beauty in that lake is really just a reflection of the beauty above it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Only A Reflection."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18. By the way, it's about reflected beauty. "And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord's glory; are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
Now, this refers back, if you read the rest of this chapter, to the time when Moses came down from Mount Sinai after being in the personal presence of the Lord. And the Bible says, "His face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord." That's from Exodus 34. The glow was on Moses. It wasn't from Moses, but it sure was on him. He had spent time with the Lord, and as a result he began to reflect the Lord's glory and he didn't even realize it.
Mirror Lake, in that little cavern, has little beauty of its' own. It's just an underground puddle, really. But it reflects the beauty of what's above it, and that's what makes it come to life. That could be you if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and if you're spending time with Him; time where you let Him, as this passage says, "transform you" making you more like Him.
It's possible for an ordinary human being like you or me to have an extraordinary impact on someone's life because you do a good job displaying Jesus to them. Here are some important reminders if you want to be one of God's mirrors. First of all, you've got to be with Jesus daily. And when you're with Him, you make the purpose of that time with Him to let Him change you. To say, "Lord, how can You make me a little more like You today?"
Secondly, be confident because of who you represent. You don't have to focus on your appearance, or your ability, or your limitations, or the impression you're making if you focus on the incredible Savior that you're trying to display. It's about Him. It's not about you.
Thirdly, be committed to leaving people focused on Jesus. You want them thinking about you? Or do you want them thinking about your Jesus? You want them thinking about the puddle or the beauty that the puddle reflects?
And then, finally, be tough on any self-glorifying thoughts. If you find yourself saying, "Aren't I something" after something good happens, you're on the way down. You need to say, "Lord, aren't You something!" You're nothing, see. Neither am I. But He makes you; He makes me something as we reflect Him.
There's an old hymn that says, "May His beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win. And may they forget the channel, seeing only Him." So, Mirror Lake person, don't be too impressed with yourself. Don't promote yourself. Don't be too impressed with other people, or you'll be intimidated right out of showing them Jesus.
Just be impressed with the glory of Jesus above you and that He wants to show it to everyone else through you.