Max Lucado Daily: God's Project
Some years ago a Rottweiler attacked our golden retriever puppy at a kennel. The animal climbed out of its run and into Molly's and nearly killed her. I wrote a letter to the dog's owner, urging him to put the dog to sleep. But when I showed the letter to the kennel owner, she begged me to reconsider. "What the dog did was horrible, but I'm still training him. I'm not finished with him yet."
God would say the same about the Rottweiler who attacked you. "What he did was unacceptable, inexcusable, but I'm not finished yet." Your enemies still figure into God's plan. Their pulse is proof. God hasn't given up on them. They may be out of His will, but not out of His reach. You honor God when you see them, not as His failures, but as His projects!
From Facing Your Giants
Psalm 9
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Death of the Son.”
1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
2 I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
3 My enemies retreated;
they staggered and died when you appeared.
4 For you have judged in my favor;
from your throne you have judged with fairness.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have erased their names forever.
6 The enemy is finished, in endless ruins;
the cities you uprooted are now forgotten.
7 But the Lord reigns forever,
executing judgment from his throne.
8 He will judge the world with justice
and rule the nations with fairness.
9 The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who reigns in Jerusalem.[a]
Tell the world about his unforgettable deeds.
12 For he who avenges murder cares for the helpless.
He does not ignore the cries of those who suffer.
13 Lord, have mercy on me.
See how my enemies torment me.
Snatch me back from the jaws of death.
14 Save me so I can praise you publicly at Jerusalem’s gates,
so I can rejoice that you have rescued me.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
16 The Lord is known for his justice.
The wicked are trapped by their own deeds. Quiet Interlude[b]
17 The wicked will go down to the grave.[c]
This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.
18 But the needy will not be ignored forever;
the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.
19 Arise, O Lord!
Do not let mere mortals defy you!
Judge the nations!
20 Make them tremble in fear, O Lord.
Let the nations know they are merely human. Interlude
Footnotes:
9:11 Hebrew Zion; also in 9:14.
9:16 Hebrew Higgaion Selah. The meaning of this phrase is uncertain.
9:17 Hebrew to Sheol.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Read: Isaiah 46:1-10
Babylon’s False Gods
Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon,
bow as they are lowered to the ground.
They are being hauled away on ox carts.
The poor beasts stagger under the weight.
2 Both the idols and their owners are bowed down.
The gods cannot protect the people,
and the people cannot protect the gods.
They go off into captivity together.
3 “Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
all you who remain in Israel.
I have cared for you since you were born.
Yes, I carried you before you were born.
4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.
5 “To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?
6 Some people pour out their silver and gold
and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
Then they bow down and worship it!
7 They carry it around on their shoulders,
and when they set it down, it stays there.
It can’t even move!
And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.
8 “Do not forget this! Keep it in mind!
Remember this, you guilty ones.
9 Remember the things I have done in the past.
For I alone am God!
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.
Insight:
Isaiah assured the discouraged Jewish nation in exile in Babylon that God would come to their rescue and punish their enemies (Isa. 40–55). The Babylonian conquerors and their gods (represented by their chief deity, Bel, and his son Nebo) would be defeated and destroyed (46:1-2). Unlike these false gods, who were crafted by human hands and were incapable of protecting or saving anyone (vv. 6-7), God asserted that He alone was God and there was none like Him (v. 9). He reminded His people that He had faithfully cared for them since birth (vv. 3-4) and He alone had the power to save them (v. 10).
Miracle Material
By Mart DeHaan
To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? —Isaiah 40:25 niv
CNN calls a derivative of graphite a “miracle material” that could revolutionize our future. Only one atom thick, graphene is being hailed as a truly two-dimensional material in a 3-D world. One hundred times stronger than steel, it is harder than diamond, conducts electricity 1,000 times better than copper, and is more flexible than rubber.
In and of themselves, such technological advances are neither moral nor evil. But we are wise to remember the limitations of anything we make for ourselves.
Isaiah spoke to a generation who found themselves carrying into captivity gods they had made with their own hands. The prophet wanted the Israelites to see the irony of needing to care for the silver and gold idols they had crafted to inspire, help, comfort, and protect them.
What was true of Israel holds true for us as well. Nothing we have made or bought for ourselves can meet the needs of our heart. Only God, who has been carrying us “from the womb” (Isa. 46:3-4), can carry us into the future.
Father, thank You for the miracle of relationship with You. Help us not to rely on our own efforts, strength, or possessions but instead sense Your loving care for us.
An idol is anything that takes God’s rightful place.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Sanctification (2)
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us…sanctification… —1 Corinthians 1:30
The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He “became for [me]…sanctification….” Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life.
The most wonderful secret of living a holy life does not lie in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfect qualities of Jesus exhibit themselves in my human flesh. Sanctification is “Christ in you…” (Colossians 1:27). It is His wonderful life that is imparted to me in sanctification— imparted by faith as a sovereign gift of God’s grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real in me as it is in His Word?
Sanctification means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ to me. It is the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is exhibited in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is something altogether different. The perfection of everything is in Jesus Christ, and the mystery of sanctification is that all the perfect qualities of Jesus are at my disposal. Consequently, I slowly but surely begin to live a life of inexpressible order, soundness, and holiness— “…kept by the power of God…” (1 Peter 1:5).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Flowers Before the Funeral - #7444
When Princess Diana died no one could have ever predicted the massive public outpouring of love and grief that came from the British people in the week following her death. Maybe you remember that sea of flowers that enveloped the front of Buckingham Palace and Diana's personal residence at Kensington Palace. You couldn't get anywhere near the gates. The flowers seemed to stretch out endlessly! Someone who had been close to the Princess said, "Diana had no idea she was loved like this." That's sad but not unique.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flowers Before the Funeral."
I've never been to a funeral anywhere near the scale of Princess Diana's. But I have been to a lot of funerals. And there are lots of flowers there. Not just the kind with petals, but I mean verbal flowers. You hear people talking about how much that person meant to them, about their strong points, about special qualities or experiences that touched the life of the one who was giving the tribute.
It would be very affirming to that departed person if only they could hear it. If only they could, in essence, smell all the flowers that are suddenly coming their way. I can't help but wonder -and even consider for myself how many of us have told him/her these wonderful things while they could still appreciate them?
Our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Thessalonians 5:11. It's simple, but it's strong medicine. "Encourage one another and build each other up." That could be up in every home. It could be up in every work place, every classroom. "Encourage one another and build each other up." That's one of those commands from God that would be really great to display wouldn't it?
Too often, we are very communicative about what we don't like that a person is doing. The criticisms, the put-downs, the sarcasm, the complaining, oh they come pouring out really quickly. So most of us have a good idea of what's wrong with us, because we have a lot of help finding that out from others. But you literally have to train your mind and train your mouth to look for and to express what you do like about that person; what strengths God built into them; what they do right. Things you should thank them for, what they've done that's helped you or ministered to you. Let's not save that good stuff for the funeral.
The people in your personal universe are people in desperate need of regular encouragement. How are you doing with that? Are you giving it to them? I love what encourage means. It literally seems to mean putting courage into somebody. Some of us come from a background where there wasn't much praise, there wasn't much encouragement, so it's hard for us to give what we never got. But you of all people should know how much it hurts not to get it. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see the positive in the people around you and to give you the words to tell them what you see.
When you praise someone, thank someone and compliment that person, when you tell them the good things you see in them, you are doing what the Bible calls "building them up." What's the alternative? Tearing them down. However they treat you, your job is to be like Jesus and to give them the gift of encouragement. Some of the difficult people in your world may be difficult because they've had so little encouragement.
Whatever nice things you might say at a person's funeral, would you say them now? A pile of flowers after they're gone won't do a thing for them. But your flowers now could make a big difference if you give the flowers to them when they can still enjoy them.
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