Max Lucado Daily: You Have a Choice
Storms are coming your way. Winds will howl and you will have a choice. Will you hear Christ or the crisis? Heed the promises of Scripture or the noise of the storm? Wilderness people trust Scripture just enough to escape Egypt. Promised Land dwellers, on the other hand, make the Bible their go-to book for life.
This week make Joshua 1:9 your go-to verse for life. God said to Joshua, "Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
Glory Days require an ongoing trust in God's Word. Join me at GloryDaysToday.com in a journey to hide God's Word deep in our hearts. Let's memorize Joshua 1:9 together-with the reminder that God has given you power.
John 16
“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. 2 For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. 3 This is because they have never known the Father or me. 4 Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
5 “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate[a] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
Sadness Will Be Turned to Joy
16 “In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.”
17 Some of the disciples asked each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? 18 And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”
19 Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. 20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. 21 It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. 22 So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. 23 At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. 24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.
25 “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.[b] 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:
16:7 Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Counselor. Greek reads Paraclete.
16:27 Some manuscripts read from the Father.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Read: Psalm 22:1-21
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Doe of the Dawn.”
1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
5 They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.
6 But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
8 “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”
9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
You have been my God from the moment I was born.
11 Do not stay so far from me,
for trouble is near,
and no one else can help me.
12 My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls;
fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
13 Like lions they open their jaws against me,
roaring and tearing into their prey.
14 My life is poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax,
melting within me.
15 My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
an evil gang closes in on me.
They have pierced[a] my hands and feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
My enemies stare at me and gloat.
18 They divide my garments among themselves
and throw dice[b] for my clothing.
19 O Lord, do not stay far away!
You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!
20 Save me from the sword;
spare my precious life from these dogs.
21 Snatch me from the lion’s jaws
and from the horns of these wild oxen.
Footnotes:
22:16 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek and Syriac versions; most Hebrew manuscripts read They are like a lion at.
22:18 Hebrew cast lots.
Feeling Forsaken
By Dennis Fisher
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46
In his book The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis records an imaginary conversation between a senior devil and a junior devil as they discuss how to properly tempt a Christian. The two devils desired to destroy the believer’s faith in God. “Be not deceived,” the senior devil says to the junior. “Our cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human . . . looks round upon a universe in which every trace of [God] seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”
The Bible gives us many examples of people who acted with faith despite their feelings of abandonment. Abram felt that God’s promise of an heir had gone unheeded (Gen. 15:2-3). The psalmist felt ignored in his trouble (Ps. 10:1). Job’s troubles were so great that he thought God might even kill him (Job 13:15). And Jesus from the cross cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Yet in each instance God was shown to be faithful (Gen. 21:1-7; Ps. 10:16-18; Job 38:1–42:17; Matt. 28:9-20).
Although Satan may try to tempt you to think you are forsaken, God is always near. He never forsakes His own. “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ ” (Heb. 13:5). We may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid” (v. 6).
Lord, although clouds and darkness sometimes shroud me, I know that You are close by my side. Thank You.
God is always near in spite of our fears.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Praying to God in Secret
When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place… —Matthew 6:6
The primary thought in the area of religion is— keep your eyes on God, not on people. Your motivation should not be the desire to be known as a praying person. Find an inner room in which to pray where no one even knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Have no motivation other than to know your Father in heaven. It is impossible to carry on your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer.
“When you pray, do not use vain repetitions…” (Matthew 6:7). God does not hear us because we pray earnestly— He hears us solely on the basis of redemption. God is never impressed by our earnestness. Prayer is not simply getting things from God— that is only the most elementary kind of prayer. Prayer is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God. If the Son of God has been formed in us through regeneration (see Galatians 4:19), then He will continue to press on beyond our common sense and will change our attitude about the things for which we pray.
“Everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8). We pray religious nonsense without even involving our will, and then we say that God did not answer— but in reality we have never asked for anything. Jesus said, “…you will ask what you desire…” (John 15:7). Asking means that our will must be involved. Whenever Jesus talked about prayer, He spoke with wonderful childlike simplicity. Then we respond with our critical attitude, saying, “Yes, but even Jesus said that we must ask.” But remember that we have to ask things of God that are in keeping with the God whom Jesus Christ revealed.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Peace When There's No Reason - #7483
She was only one woman; an inmate on Death Row. And she became the center of a public opinion hurricane. Karla Faye Tucker was her name. She was convicted of a brutal pickax murder in Texas, sentenced to die, on Death Row for almost 14 years. Reporters from across the country and around the world descended on Huntsville, Texas in the days and weeks before her scheduled execution. And millions of us actually heard Karla Faye speak for herself as she explained the dramatic change that had taken place in her life. Karla Faye explained that she had trusted Jesus Christ to be her Savior, believing that the sin He died to forgive covered even the heinous things she had done. The way she lived in prison, the way she seemed to speak from deep in her heart lent credibility to the story of the rebirth that she told about.
Oh, and the way she died. All her appeals were denied-and that seemed to be okay with her. She was ready to live to make a difference or she was ready to die and see her Savior. While the hurricane of debate over her execution raged around her, she seemed to be the only person who had the most peace of all. Even to the moment of her death. In her final words, she told the family of her victims, "I am so sorry. I hope God will give you peace with this." And as for her? She said, "I am going to be face to face with Jesus now. I love all of you very much. I will see you all when you get there." The reporter who witnessed her execution described her as "calm and composed" right to the end.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace When There's No Reason."
Certainly the death penalty for that crime had probably been rightly adjudicated. But because of what she said Jesus had done for her, she lived and died with a deep sense of personal peace. A peace that many people wish they had. Peace about the mistakes and the sins of the past. Peace about what will happen on the other side of our last heartbeat, about what will happen to us forever. That peace is available.
Our word for today from the Word of God John 5:24, "I tell you the truth, (Jesus is talking) whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." Jesus is talking here about condemned people, destined to death, and He's talking about you and me.
Because the disturbing verdict of the Bible is that we're all on Death Row as far as God is concerned. Eternal death - unending separation from God and His love. That's the penalty for what God calls sin. And He says in the Bible, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans. 3:23). Which means every one of us is under sin's death sentence.
Sin means much more than a brutal murder or a life of crime. Sin is our choice to run our own lives instead of letting God run it. To do what we want to do, no matter what the Creator says. Every one of us, in our own way, is a rebel against God, a sinner and sentenced to death forever.
That's why our word for today is so amazing. God says condemned people can go free. People sentenced to die can, in a moment, have that death penalty canceled and receive the gift of eternal life. How? By putting your total trust in Jesus, who went to the cross as your substitute, bearing every sin of your life, dying your death penalty. And in the moment you say, "Jesus, I'm Yours", you have in the Bible's words, "crossed over from death to life."
And you may have never done that. You want that peace of being ready to live and ready to die, tell Jesus you're trusting Him to be your Savior from your sin beginning right now. And I'll tell you, at that moment, your sins will be forgiven and your name will be entered in God's reservation book for heaven and you'll know you're going to heaven when you die!
You want to get this settled today and experience the peace that only God can plant in your heart? Listen, go to our website ANewStory.com. Or you can text us at 442-244-WORD.
When you make that step of asking Jesus to come in as your Savior, your days on Death Row are over forever. You've been pardoned by Jesus himself. And when it's your time to die, you'll be able to say with absolute peace, "I am going to be face to face with Jesus right now."
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