Max Lucado Daily: Grace-A Never Ending Supply
Grace is simply another word for God's tumbling, rumbling reservoir of strength and protection. Grace comes to us not occasionally or miserly but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave. We've barely regained our balance from one breaker, and then, bam, here comes another. John 1:16 calls it "Grace upon grace."
We dare to stake our hope on the gladdest news of all! If God permits the challenge, he will provide the grace to meet it. We never exhaust his supply. He never says, "Stop asking so much! My grace reservoir is running dry." Heaven knows no such words. God has enough grace to solve every dilemma you face, wipe every tear you cry, and answer every question you ask. Would we expect anything less from God? Having given the supreme and costliest gift, Romans 8:32 says, "How can He fail to lavish upon us all He has to give?"
From GRACE
Joshua 20
The Cities of Refuge
The Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Now tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed Moses. 3 Anyone who kills another person accidentally and unintentionally can run to one of these cities; they will be places of refuge from relatives seeking revenge for the person who was killed.
4 “Upon reaching one of these cities, the one who caused the death will appear before the elders at the city gate and present his case. They must allow him to enter the city and give him a place to live among them. 5 If the relatives of the victim come to avenge the killing, the leaders must not release the slayer to them, for he killed the other person unintentionally and without previous hostility. 6 But the slayer must stay in that city and be tried by the local assembly, which will render a judgment. And he must continue to live in that city until the death of the high priest who was in office at the time of the accident. After that, he is free to return to his own home in the town from which he fled.”
7 The following cities were designated as cities of refuge: Kedesh of Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali; Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim; and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah. 8 On the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho, the following cities were designated: Bezer, in the wilderness plain of the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead, in the territory of the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, in the land of the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These cities were set apart for all the Israelites as well as the foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally killed another person could take refuge in one of these cities. In this way, they could escape being killed in revenge prior to standing trial before the local assembly.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Read: Acts 17:16-23
Paul Preaches in Athens
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”
19 Then they took him to the high council of the city.[a] “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)
22 So Paul, standing before the council,[b] addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
Footnotes:
17:19 Or the most learned society of philosophers in the city. Greek reads the Areopagus.
17:22 Traditionally rendered standing in the middle of Mars Hill; Greek reads standing in the middle of the Areopagus.
INSIGHT: The Areopagus (vv.19,22) was like an ancient philosophical think tank. There the wisest thinkers and philosophers of the day would assemble to wrestle with important ideas and teachings. This made it the ideal place for Paul to present the good news and teachings of Jesus.
Changed Perspective
By Randy Kilgore
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. —Acts 17:16
As an early riser, my wife enjoys the quiet moments before the house wakes up and uses it to read the Bible and pray. Recently she settled into her favorite chair, only to be confronted by a rather messy couch left there by “someone” watching a football game the night before. The mess distracted her at first, and her frustration with me interrupted the warmth of the moment.
Then a thought hit her, and she moved to the couch. From there, she could look out our front windows to the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. The beauty of the scene God painted that morning changed her perspective.
As she told me the story, we both recognized the lesson of the morning. While we can’t always control the things of life that impact our day, we do have a choice. We can continue to brood over the “mess,” or we can change our perspective. When Paul was in Athens, “he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16 niv). But when he changed his perspective, he used their interest in religion as an opportunity to proclaim the true God, Jesus Christ (vv.22-23).
As my wife left for work, it was time for someone else to change his perspective—for me to let the Lord help me to see my messes through her eyes and His.
Dear Lord, grant us the wisdom to change
our perspective rather than linger over messes.
Help us to see—and fix—the “messes”
we make for others.
Wisdom is seeing things from God’s perspective.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Our Misgivings About Jesus
The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep." —John 4:11
Have you ever said to yourself, “I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!” When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality— that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, “Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?” Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, “It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means to be able to give us these things.” And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, “Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself.” If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can’t.
My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly— “Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 26, 2015
The Price of Not Waiting - #7339
I had the opportunity some years ago to speak for some pilots organizations, and I've never piloted a plane. I'm always a passenger. But they wanted me to talk about peace and stress. And it was something I wrote a book about, so it worked out pretty well. In the process I met some guys who deal with FFA safety seminars. They told me some interesting things about what happens with some of the crashes that we might see in the news. They said that when a private pilot crashes, there's usually a study of that, and they start to compile case studies to help other pilots fly more safely.
I was told that one of the problems that causes a crash is something, well, their word was "get there-itis." It means you simply got to get to your destination no matter what. "Got to get there!" So, you push beyond the limits of safety. Maybe you think you can beat that storm, or put off the maintenance until we get back from your trip. Well, sadly, some never do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Price of Not Waiting."
Our word for today from the Word of God begins in Psalm 37:5. "Commit your way to the Lord." "Your way" well, to me what does that mean? It's where I go, what I do, how I do it, and when I do it. "I'm giving all that to you today Lord." And then it says, "Trust in Him and He will do this. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him." And then in verse 34, later it says, "Wait for the Lord and keep His way."
Now, if you've truly committed your way to the Lord; if you're really trusting Him to do what needs to be done, you'll be willing to wait. Did you get that word? Do you like that word? I don't. Wait. Someone said, "The hardest room in God's house to be in is the waiting room." I heard about a pastor who was pacing back and forth in his office. His secretary walked in. She said, "What's wrong?" He said, "I'm in a hurry and God isn't."
I think we all know that feeling. We know what we want. We know when we ought to have it, and we have a hard time waiting for God to do it in His time and in His way. So we end up with a delivery that's premature; not nearly as healthy as a full-term answer would be. The truth is, a lot of us are make-it-happen people, and we are afflicted with spiritual "get there-itis" and we're going to make it happen; goals that we have like a career goal, a financial goal, a marital goal, a goal for our children, a ministry goal. Sure we pray about it and we ask God for it. But when it seems like it's taking too long or it isn't going to happen we decide to give God a little help.
Well, there's our destination, so we take off after it before we should. It's called running ahead of God, usually because we think He's taking too long. We can't wait. That kind of impatience has probably been the cause of more God's will errors, more crashes in our lives, than anything else - impatience.
Maybe your loving Lord knows you're there right now. He sent this message today to be a bold, flashing sign that has four letters on it and they spell WAIT. Maybe you're tempted to run ahead of the Lord financially and get yourself in debt, a big debt. Maybe you're tempted to push your health farther than God intends or your agenda for getting a husband or a wife, your dreams for your career, even your vision for your ministry. Don't rush it! You'll ruin it.
Remember the words of the Bible, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him." Look at all the crash sites of those who couldn't wait for God's timing. For the Scripture tells us "He makes everything beautiful in it's time." Get there-itis has already ruined too many people. No destination is worth risking a crash that could have been prevented by waiting.