Max Lucado Daily: Many Gifts of the Cross
Much has been said about Jesus’ “gift of the Cross.” But what of the other gifts? What of the nails, the crown of thorns? The garments taken by the soldiers? Have you taken time to open these gifts? He didn’t have to give us these gifts, you know. The only required act for our salvation was the shedding of blood, yet He did much more. So much more.
Search the scene of the Cross—and what do you find? A wine-soaked sponge. A sign. Two crosses beside Christ. Divine gifts intended to stir that moment, that split second when your face will brighten, your eyes will widen, and God will hear you whisper, “You did this for me?” Dare we think such thoughts? Let’s unwrap these gifts of grace– as if for the first time. Pause and listen. Perchance you will hear Him whisper, “I did it just for you!”
From He Chose the Nails
Luke 13:1-22
A Call to Repentance
About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. 2 “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
6 Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. 7 Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
8 “The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. 9 If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!
14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”
15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”
17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.
Parable of the Mustard Seed
18 Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”
Parable of the Yeast
20 He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? 21 It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
The Narrow Door
22 Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Read: Psalm 19:1-6
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.[a]
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.
Footnotes:
19:3 Or There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
INSIGHT: Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote this about David and Psalm 19: “In his earliest days the psalmist, while keeping his father’s flock, had devoted himself to the study of God’s two great books—nature and Scripture; and he had so thoroughly entered into the spirit of these two only volumes in his library that he was able with a devout criticism to compare and contrast them, magnifying the excellency of the Author as seen in both. . . . He is wisest who reads both the world-book and the Word-book as two volumes of the same work, and feels concerning them, ‘My Father wrote them both.’”
Hand Me The Binoculars!
By Dennis Fisher
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. —Psalm 19:1
When I was in elementary school my friend Kent and I would often spend time looking at the night sky with a pair of German-made binoculars. We marveled at the stars in the sky and the mountains on the moon. All throughout the evening we took turns saying, “Hand me the binocs!”
Centuries earlier a Jewish shepherd boy looked up at the night sky and also marveled. He did not have a pair of binoculars or a telescope to aid him. But he had something even more important—a personal relationship with the living God. I imagine the sheep quietly bleating in the background as David gazed skyward. Later he would write the inspired text: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge” (Ps. 19:1-2).
In our busy schedules, we can so easily forget to stand in awe of the heavenly beauty our Creator has prepared for our enjoyment and His glory. When we set aside time to look at the night sky and marvel at what is there, we gain a deeper understanding of God and His eternal power and glory.
We believe that this is Your world, Lord. We marvel at You and Your creativity when we look at the sky and the world around us. You, and what You have done, are amazing! We stand in awe of You.
In the wonders of God’s creation, we see His majesty and His character.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Total Surrender
Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." —Mark 10:28
Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (10:29). It was not for the purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of Christianity. Our motive for surrender should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’ ” Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.
Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse— “Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ‘cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33).
True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Peace Within Your Reach - #7349
Sister is a dog. No, I didn't say my sister was a dog. My friend, Curtis, has a dog he named Sister, which leads to some very amusing sentences. When Curtis' Sister first arrived in our area, Sister lived in this big, fenced-in area around the house. But Curtis got a nice dog house for Sister, the dog that is, and went to work making it a nice winter home for her. He installed two inches of insulation, put in a new floor, and even put a waterbed heater under the floor and some zip lock bags of water for the heater to heat. Sister basically had her own home with her own waterbed.
But for the first couple of weeks after her home was completed, she wouldn't go in it. Curtis was away for the weekend. He asked a friend to check on Sister. It was one of those days was when a powerful Nor'easter storm hit our area with drenching rain. And when Curtis' friend visited Sister, there was that dog running around outside the dog house in the wind and the pouring rain, still refusing to go in that home that had been provided for her.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace Within Your Reach."
Curtis said he was frustrated. He said, "Here I lovingly prepared a warm, safe place, and she insists on staying outside in the cold and the rain." That frustration is one that Jesus knows very well.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 19:21. "As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it. He said, 'If you only would have known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. You did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.'" This kind of grieving in the heart of Jesus isn't limited to that one time and that one place. It happens every time another person keeps running in the rain when they could be living in the safety and warmth that He has prepared for them.
Jesus makes very clear what He wants to give us; what the result will be if we respond to Him. He talks about what would "bring you peace." And peace is what's at stake in what you do with Jesus; personal peace, peace with God, peace for all eternity. Jesus may actually have shed some tears for you. So many times He's given you the opportunity to come into that wonderful peace of a personal relationship with Him, but you have refused to enter.
The results: You're alone out in the storm, feeling unnecessary loneliness because you're living outside His never-leaving love. Unnecessary stress because you're trying to handle life without His peace. You're feeling unnecessary pain because you're trying to carry the load without His great strength, and maybe unnecessary emptiness because you're trying to make life make sense without the One who gave you your life. And Jesus is saying, "If you only knew what I can do for you if you'll just come inside."
The spiritual shelter Jesus invites you to has been very lovingly prepared for you, very expensively prepared for you. There was no way into a God relationship as long as the death penalty for our sins stood between us and God. We're spiritual orphans in this world. We're separated from our Father because of our sins. But the Bible says, speaking of the suffering and crucifixion of God's Son, "He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities." All that because of how much Jesus loves you.
And the result of this incredible love? Here's what it says, "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him." The peace that has eluded you for your whole life can finally be yours today if you'll give yourself to the One who gave His life for you on a cross. He said of the people who had missed Him, "You did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." That time for you might be today.
He's come to you. He's knocking on the door of your heart. Would you open up? Let Him in and let Him take the wheel of your life from this day on. If you're tired of being in the storm without the peace that He wants to give you, that He died to give you, would you say to Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
I'd love to help you with that. Go to our website. We'll take it from there - AnewStory.com. You don't need to run alone in the rain any more. You know which way is home and Jesus is there.
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