Max Lucado Daily: God Can Use You
If God chose only righteous people to change the world, you could count them all on one finger-Jesus! Instead he included others in his plan-sinners, the ungodly, the imperfect. God used and uses people to change the world. People! Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars-he uses them all!
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used, and take heart. No matter who you are or what you've done, God can use you. Because you're imperfect, you can speak of making mistakes. Because you're a sinner, you can speak of forgiveness. God restores the broken and the brittle, then parades them before the world as trophies of his love and strength. And when the world sees the ungodly turn godly, they know God must love them too.
God can use you, my friend!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 19
Cities of Refuge
“When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he is giving you, you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes. 2 Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 3 Survey the territory,[c] and divide the land the Lord your God is giving you into three districts, with one of these cities in each district. Then anyone who has killed someone can flee to one of the cities of refuge for safety.
4 “If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety. 5 For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood. And suppose one of them swings an ax to chop down a tree, and the ax head flies off the handle, killing the other person. In such cases, the slayer may flee to one of the cities of refuge to live in safety.
6 “If the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too far, an enraged avenger might be able to chase down and kill the person who caused the death. Then the slayer would die unfairly, since he had never shown hostility toward the person who died. 7 That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.
8 “And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised them, 9 you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all the commands I have given you—if you always love the Lord your God and walk in his ways.) 10 That way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. You will not be held responsible for the death of innocent people.
11 “But suppose someone is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders him and then flees to one of the cities of refuge. 12 In that case, the elders of the murderer’s hometown must send agents to the city of refuge to bring him back and hand him over to the dead person’s avenger to be put to death. 13 Do not feel sorry for that murderer! Purge from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people; then all will go well with you.
Concern for Justice
14 “When you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession, you must never steal anyone’s land by moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property.
15 “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 “If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, 17 then both the accuser and accused must appear before the Lord by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. 18 The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, 19 you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you. 20 Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing. 21 You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
19:3 Or Keep the roads in good repair.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 09, 2015
Read: Psalm 119:97-104
Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are my constant guide.
99 Yes, I have more insight than my teachers,
for I am always thinking of your laws.
100 I am even wiser than my elders,
for I have kept your commandments.
101 I have refused to walk on any evil path,
so that I may remain obedient to your word.
102 I haven’t turned away from your regulations,
for you have taught me well.
103 How sweet your words taste to me;
they are sweeter than honey.
104 Your commandments give me understanding;
no wonder I hate every false way of life.
Insight
The author of Psalm 119 (the longest psalm in the Bible) is not named. Some scholars say it was penned by Ezra, whose devotion to God’s Word is well-attested (Ezra 7:10; Neh. 8:1-9). Others say David composed it. Despite being scorned and ridiculed for trusting the Scriptures (vv.22-23,31,42,46,78), the psalmist did not waver but remained fully committed to them. In today’s passage, the psalmist affirms his deep love for God’s law (v.97) and testifies how constant meditation on it has made him wiser than his enemies (v.98), his teachers (v.99), and the older (wiser) men of his day (v.100). God’s Word provides wisdom and perspective for living.
Love Letter
By Poh Fang Chia
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. —Psalm 119:97
Each morning when I reach my office, I have one simple habit—check all my emails. Most of the time, I’ll work through them in a perfunctory fashion. There are some emails, however, that I’m eager to open. You guessed it—those from loved ones.
Someone has said that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. But perhaps on some days, like me, you just don’t feel like opening it and your heart doesn’t resonate with the words of the psalmist: “Oh, how I love Your law!” (Ps. 119:97). The Scriptures are “Your commandments” (v.98), “Your testimonies” (v.99), “Your precepts” (v.100), “Your word” (v.101, emphasis added).
A question by Thomas Manton (1620–1677), once a lecturer at Westminster Abbey, still holds relevance for us today. He asked: “Who is the author of Scripture? God. . . . What is the end of Scripture? God. Why was the Scripture written, but that we might everlastingly enjoy the blessed God?”
It is said of some people that the more you know them the less you admire them; but the reverse is true of God. Familiarity with the Word of God, or rather the God of the Word, breeds affection, and affection seeks yet greater familiarity.
As you open your Bible, remember that God—the One who loves you the most—has a message for you.
Oh, may I love Thy precious Word,
May I explore the mine,
May I its fragrant flowers glean,
May light upon me shine! —Hodder
Knowing the Bible helps us know the God of the Bible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 09, 2015
Prayerful Inner-Searching
May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
“Your whole spirit….” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139. The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”
Do we believe that God can fortify and protect our thought processes far beyond where we can go? “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If this verse means cleansing only on our conscious level, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been dulled by sin will say that he is not even conscious of it. But the cleansing from sin we experience will reach to the heights and depths of our spirit if we will “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are protected by God with the miraculous sacredness of the Holy Spirit that our spirit, soul, and body can be preserved in pure uprightness until the coming of Jesus-no longer condemned in God’s sight.
We should more frequently allow our minds to meditate on these great, massive truths of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 09, 2015
Never Without Your Weapon - #7305
Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting Old Jerusalem. And as I walked through that city, I saw a peculiar site. Some Israeli soldiers who appeared to be on a holiday, because they had their arm around their girl, they were laughing, they were shopping. The curious part was that they each had a gun strapped over their shoulder; the Uzi with a full clip of ammunition. Those Israeli soldiers, well they know that they always need to be prepared for war, even when they're taking the day off. They always carry their weapon.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Without Your Weapon."
Now our word for today from the Word of God, we're in Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. (I will not read it all, our program is too short for that). But it is appropriately devoted to the power of the Word of God. Verse 9: "How can a young man keep his way pure?" Now, you may or may not be young, but I'll bet you've asked the question, "How can I win over this temptation?" Here's the answer, "By living according to Your Word, Lord."
Then he says, "I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your command." In other words, "Lord, I really want to do the right thing, but sometimes I get off on a detour." And here's the strategy for winning that battle. "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you." So here's David talking about memorizing the words of God from the Bible and making them part of your personality.
See, that's the weapon you use to fight sin and temptation. You say, "Oh, I read the Bible." No, this is talking about knowing the Bible by heart; memorizing it. For example, I've memorized Ephesians 6:10-18, it's the great passage on spiritual warfare. And many mornings as I get ready or I haven't been feeling that great, or I'm facing some heavy load or maybe some gloomy stuff, I quote that passage. And many times it has turned the spiritual tide of my heart.
D. L. Moody said, "When you think sin, think scripture." And you can't do that if you don't have scripture buried in your personality by memorization. You can't always reach for your Bible, but you can reach in and pull up whatever you've made part of you. This is like portable spiritual power wrapped up in scripture committed to memory.
Now if you haven't been consciously, consistently committing verses to memory, you're just a lot weaker than you need to be. What are some of the promises of God that stand out in those moments when, let's say, worry is winning? Well how about memorizing Psalm 55:22, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall." Now, I've sent that verse to the door many times when worry's been knocking.
Or learn His promises that will help you fight temptation. Like 1 Corinthians 10:13: "There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful! He will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able, but with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it." How about James 4:7, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Or that great spiritual warfare passage in Ephesians 6.
How about learning the warnings of scripture to fight sin with when it looks inviting? James 1:15 is a great one, "Desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." All of a sudden you're reminded that the sin that looked so good is a killer. Write the verses you want to memorize on a card, and then learn them by a handle, a title on them: temptation, worry, whatever you want to use as your subject matter. Keep that card in places where you always go. Review, review, review. Try it out on as many people as you can.
Those Israeli soldiers have won the respect of the whole world. That day in Jerusalem I saw one reason why. They know something that every follower of Christ has got to remember. We have to always be prepared for war. A battle can break out anytime. And it doesn't stop just because you're relaxing.
So, always carry your weapons; the artillery of God's Word that you've got hidden in your heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment