Max Lucado Daily: In God's Hands
Imagine this breakfast scene. The daughters are complaining their brother took too much time in the bathroom. So their hair isn't brushed and makeup isn't applied. Mom is doing her best, but she woke up with a headache and a long list of things to do. Dad stops at the kitchen doorway. He weighs his options:
" Command everyone to shape up and behave.
" Berate his son for dominating the bathroom and his wife for not taking control.
" Sneak out before anyone notices.
OR. . .he could pray: "Father, you are good. I need help. Reduce the frenzy in my house, please." Will the prayer change everything? It may. Or it may take another prayer, or two, or ten! But at least the problem is in the hands of the One who can solve it. The Bible says, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you! (1 Peter 5:7)."
Before amen-comes the power of a simple prayer!
From Before Amen
Mark 13:1-20
Jesus Foretells the Future
As Jesus was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! Look at the impressive stones in the walls.”
2 Jesus replied, “Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”
3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives across the valley from the Temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him privately and asked him, 4 “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to be fulfilled?”
5 Jesus replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 6 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’[a] They will deceive many. 7 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 8 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
9 “When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.[b] 10 For the Good News must first be preached to all nations.[c] 11 But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. 13 And everyone will hate you because you are my followers.[d] But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
14 “The day is coming when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes desecration[e] standing where he[f] should not be.” (Reader, pay attention!) “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 15 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 16 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 17 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 18 And pray that your flight will not be in winter. 19 For there will be greater anguish in those days than at any time since God created the world. And it will never be so great again. 20 In fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, not a single person will survive. But for the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days.
Footnotes:
13:6 Greek claiming, ‘I am.’
13:9 Or But this will be your testimony against them.
13:10 Or all peoples.
13:13 Greek on account of my name.
13:14a Greek the abomination of desolation. See Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11.
13:14b Or it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
Read: Mark 4:35-41
Jesus Calms the Storm
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
Insight
It appears that each of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) had a distinct audience and approach to telling Jesus’ story. Some scholars believe that Mark’s telling of the story was directed primarily to a Roman audience, and that his approach to Christ was to present Him as the “divine Servant.” This theme is rooted in Jesus’ own words about His mission when He said, “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). This theme would have had a strong connection for a Roman audience in the first century.
Perception Or Reality?
By Bill Crowder
Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing? —Mark 4:38
We often hear it said, “Perception is reality.” That idea for Americans may have dawned on September 26, 1960—the date of the first televised debate between two presidential candidates. In front of the cameras, John Kennedy appeared composed; Richard Nixon appeared nervous. The perception was that Kennedy would be a stronger leader. The debate not only turned that election, but it also changed the way politics is done in the US. Politics by perception became the rule of the day.
Sometimes perception is reality. But not always—especially our perceptions about God. When Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a small fishing vessel, a sudden storm threatened to sink the boat. With Jesus asleep and the disciples on the verge of panic, they began to stir Him, asking, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38).
Their question sounds similar to questions I’ve asked. At times I perceive God’s apparent inactivity as a lack of care. But His care for me goes well beyond what I can see or measure. Our God is deeply concerned for what concerns us. He urges us to place all our care upon Him, “for He cares for [us]” (1 Peter 5:7). That is true reality.
O yes, He cares; I know He cares!
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares. —Graeff
Even when we don’t sense God’s presence, His loving care is all around us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
The Authority of Truth
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. —James 4:8
It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.
When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me…” (Matthew 11:28). His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
Someone Else's Script - #7257
My friend, Ian, is unexplainable. He may very well have been the best known Christian leader in all of New Zealand. A powerful, popular speaker and he had a great Christian TV program. If you heard him speak in any public setting, well you'd have been very impressed, and you'd want to meet him when he came off the stage. And he would extend his hand, and probably begin to stutter. You might kinda laugh and say, "Come on, you're kidding." And then you'd realize he's not; this is serious. See, Ian has a noticeable stutter when he speaks to people anywhere but in a large meeting. But when that man gets up to speak about his Lord in front of a crowd, something happens, but not something unique to him.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Else's Script."
Now our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 6 and I'll be reading verses 19 and 20. And I believe that something takes over in Ian in those times when he's ministering publicly and literally, that someone takes over what he says. And that same person wants to do something like that for you. The Holy Spirit wants to do it for you when you're speaking to someone about Jesus Christ.
Here's the prayer: "Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should." Now, you can pray this prayer, you can trust God for words to say when you're representing Him, and that is something supernatural.
When you're woefully inadequate to talk with this person about eternity, He will come in and He's promised He'll make up the difference. When you're scared to death and you don't know what to say, let Him supply the words. Sometimes I'll be listening to a person that I want to share with, and I'll be thinking, "Oh, man, I have no idea what to say next. Keep talking; Buddy, because when you stop I don't know what I'm going to say." I don't know how I'm going to answer. So I fire up an S.O.S. to heaven. And when I need to respond, there's often an insight I didn't even have a moment ago, I didn't even know. I mean, this is supernatural stuff!
If you tell God how inadequate you feel, you are at that point, on your way to being an effective representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that opens you up to this Holy Spirit take-over. From the inside out He'll provide you with the courage you don't have, the thoughts that maybe you've never expressed, words that may surprise even you. But you have to take the risk to experience His power.
Shakespearian actors say some pretty profound and impressive things. You say, "Man, they're smart. What a thinker! What a communicator! What a way to put things!" He didn't write the script. He's just delivering what someone else wrote. Well, that's how it's supposed to be when we're communicating Christ to people. We're delivering someone else's script-God's words. And if we'll trust God for His active involvement in the conversation, well, it just takes away an awful lot of the pressure.
I've watched God turn a man who has difficulty getting through a sentence into an un-halting communicator. But only in the moment when he needs it. See, that's what God wants to do in you, but you have to show up with the willingness to be His voice in the life of someone else.
Don't hold back any more on speaking up for Jesus in the situation He's assigned you to. See, He put you there, He gave you the assignment, and He'll give you the script. Now, your head will make you think that the things that you are saying maybe are coming from you. But in reality, they're coming from the heart of God, through your voice into the heart of someone who really needs to hear from Him.