Max Lucado Daily: A Compelling Prayer Example
Before amen-comes the power of a simple prayer!
Jesus set a compelling prayer example. He prayed before He ate. He prayed for children. He prayed for the sick. He prayed with thanks…and with tears. He had made the planets and shaped the stars, yet He prayed.
Here's a prayer for us today!
"Father, you have made me your child through your Spirit. In your kindness you have adopted me and delivered me from sin and death. Remind me today what it means to be your child. It's so easy for me to live every day on my own terms. Help me live it in light of your grace. Thank you for accepting me as I am but not leaving me the same. In Jesus' name, amen."
Here's my prayer challenge to you! Sign on at BeforeAmen.com-then every day for 4 weeks, pray 4 minutes-it'll change your life forever!
Mark 8:22-38
Jesus Heals a Blind Man
22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”
24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”
25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”
Peter’s Declaration about Jesus
27 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”
29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.[a]”
30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus Predicts His Death
31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man[b] must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.[c]
33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[d] 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Footnotes:
8:29 Or the Christ. Messiah (a Hebrew term) and Christ (a Greek term) both mean “anointed one.”
8:31 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
8:32 Or began to correct him.
8:36 Or your self? also in 8:37.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 09, 2014
Read: John 16:25-33
“I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. 26 Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.[a] 28 Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”
29 Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. 30 Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.”
31 Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe? 32 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Footnotes:
16:27 Some manuscripts read from the Father.
Insight
Knowing that He would soon be betrayed and killed, Jesus gave His disciples a farewell speech, which is recorded in John 13:31–16:33, also known as the Upper Room Discourse. Warning of difficult times ahead for Him and His disciples (16:32), Jesus assured them of God’s presence and peace (vv.32-33). He concluded His speech on a triumphant note: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (v.33).
What Do You Expect?
By Dennis Fisher
In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. —John 16:33
In C. S. Lewis’ book God in the Dock, he wrote: “Imagine a set of people all living in the same building. Half of them think it is a hotel, the other half think it is a prison. Those who think it a hotel might regard it as quite intolerable, and those who thought it was a prison might decide that it was really surprisingly comfortable.” Lewis cleverly used this contrast between a hotel and a prison to illustrate how we view life based on our expectations. He says, “If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable; think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.”
Sometimes we expect that life should be happy and pain-free. But that is not what the Bible teaches. For the believer, this world is a place of spiritual development through both good times and bad. Jesus was realistic when He explained what to expect in life. He told His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In facing life’s blessings and bruises, we can have the inner peace that God is orchestrating events according to His sovereign plan.
Christ’s presence in our lives enables us to “be of good cheer” even in the midst of pain.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best—
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest. —Berg
In the midst of troubles, peace can be found in Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 09, 2014
Building on the Atonement
. . . present . . . your members as instruments of righteousness to God —Romans 6:13
I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. The redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith on it. If I construct my faith on my own experience, I produce the most unscriptural kind of life— an isolated life, with my eyes focused solely on my own holiness. Beware of that human holiness that is not based on the atonement of the Lord. It has no value for anything except a life of isolation— it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every kind of experience you have by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
The atonement of Jesus must be exhibited in practical, unassuming ways in my life. Every time I obey, the absolute deity of God is on my side, so that the grace of God and my natural obedience are in perfect agreement. Obedience means that I have completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.
Beware of the human holiness that denies the reality of the natural life— it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the trial or test of the atonement and ask, “Where is the discernment of the atonement in this, and in that?”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 09, 2014
Looking Out the Wrong Window - #7239
My wife was on this airplane flight, and she was sitting in the aisle seat, and a mother was sitting next to her in the middle. And this little four-year-old girl, the daughter of that mom, was at the window. The daughter had never flown before, so she wanted to be where she could see. So as they taxied out on the runway the little girl was kind of looking straight ahead like a business woman. Then as they climbed up through the clouds; it was one of those cloud-covered days, the little girl occasionally glanced out the window.
But when they got above the clouds, all of a sudden her nose was pressed to the glass; she's looking intently all over back and forth, and after a few minutes of inspecting the sky, she turned to her Mom. She said with real concern, "Where are they?" And her Mom said, "What are you talking about?" She said, "I can't see them, Mommy! Where are they?" And her Mom said, "But where are what?" She said, "The angels, Mommy! Where are the angels?" The poor little girl! She thought she knew where to find these spiritual beings, but they weren't where she thought they would be.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking Out the Wrong Window."
That poor little girl! She searched, but she was disappointed. She didn't find what she was hoping she would find. She's not the only one this has happened to. It could have happened to you. A lot of people are looking for spiritual reality today. They're looking intently, and they're not finding it where they thought they would. You look out that window spiritually and you go, "Where is God? Where is this spiritual peace? Where is eternal life? Where is the love I thought I'd find here?"
Jesus answers that in our word for today from the Word of God in John 6:35, where He declares, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry. And he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." Now, Jesus is addressing something that is throbbing inside of each one of us; this spiritual hunger and thirst. It's what the Bible calls eternity in our hearts.
I think you already know that we need something spiritual to fill the hole in our heart. Maybe you would classify yourself as a spiritual seeker. You've lived long enough to know that earth stuff and earth relationships are not enough to complete us. Jesus says He's the end of that search. We're always seeking; seems like we're never finding.
Maybe in a sense you've been looking out spiritual windows hoping to find some peace and some reality. You've looked in maybe this religion or that religion, maybe crystals, or horoscopes, or psychic powers, or whatever. You've checked out an unconventional spiritual group that maybe some would call a cult. So many windows you could look through today, but each view has ended up unsatisfying and disappointing.
There are reasons why all the roads except the one to Jesus and His cross leave us hollow inside. It's because what we really need is not spiritual experiences or warm feelings or beliefs, or even a caring group. We need to get rid of the sin that's blocking us from our relationship with our Creator. It's a sin wall. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have separated you from your God." And what we're searching for is a bridge across that separation. How do we cross this Grand Canyon between us and God? We're trying hard. We're looking in all these things, but we haven't found a way to get to Him.
Romans 5:8 says, "But God proved His love for you in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." See, only one person can remove that wall and it's Jesus. Are you tired of looking out that window for spiritual reality and coming up disappointed? Where is God? Where is the love and peace I need from Him? It begins at the cross when you say those two words with all your heart. As you observe Jesus' death on the cross, you say, "For me! This is for me, Jesus, wasn't it?"
If you want to know this Jesus, if you want to get started with Him and finally find what has eluded you in all your searching, the One you've been looking for, His name is Jesus. Then I invite you to go to our website ANewStory.com. There I will have the privilege of just sharing with you briefly how you can begin this personal relationship with Jesus. That's ANewStory.com.
A religion won't do it for you, or an experience, or a group. See, you're looking for a love relationship with the One you were made by and made for. Why don't you look His way? Because Jesus is everything your heart has ever looked for.