Max Lucado Daily: What Really Matters
A man once went to a minister for counseling.
"I've lost everything," he told the minister.
"Oh I'm so sorry to hear you've lost your faith," the minister responded.
"No," the man corrected him, "I haven't lost my faith."
"Well, then I'm sad to hear you've lost your character."
"I didn't say that," the man corrected. "I still have my character."
"I'm so sorry you've lost your salvation," said the minister.
"That's not what I said," the man objected.
"You have your faith, your character, and your salvation. Seems to me," the minister observed, "that you've lost none of the things that really matter."
You and I could pray like the Puritan. He sat down to a meal of bread and water. He bowed his head and declared, "All this and Jesus, too?" What will you gain with contentment? You may gain joy-and the faith to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!"
From Traveling Light
Psalm 57
For the choir director: A psalm[a] of David, regarding the time he fled from Saul and went into the cave. To be sung to the tune “Do Not Destroy!”
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy!
I look to you for protection.
I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings
until the danger passes by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,[b]
to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.
3 He will send help from heaven to rescue me,
disgracing those who hound me. Interlude
My God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.
4 I am surrounded by fierce lions
who greedily devour human prey—
whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows,
and whose tongues cut like swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens!
May your glory shine over all the earth.
6 My enemies have set a trap for me.
I am weary from distress.
They have dug a deep pit in my path,
but they themselves have fallen into it. Interlude
7 My heart is confident in you, O God;
my heart is confident.
No wonder I can sing your praises!
8 Wake up, my heart!
Wake up, O lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn with my song.
9 I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.
I will sing your praises among the nations.
10 For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.
May your glory shine over all the earth.
Footnotes:
57:Title Hebrew miktam. This may be a literary or musical term.
57:2 Hebrew Elohim-Elyon.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Read: 2 Samuel 9
David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth
One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 He summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked.
“Yes sir, I am,” Ziba replied.
3 The king then asked him, “Is anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show God’s kindness to them.”
Ziba replied, “Yes, one of Jonathan’s sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?” the king asked.
“In Lo-debar,” Ziba told him, “at the home of Makir son of Ammiel.”
5 So David sent for him and brought him from Makir’s home. 6 His name was Mephibosheth[a]; he was Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson. When he came to David, he bowed low to the ground in deep respect. David said, “Greetings, Mephibosheth.”
Mephibosheth replied, “I am your servant.”
7 “Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!”
8 Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?”
9 Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your master’s household.[b] But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will eat here at my table.” (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
11 Ziba replied, “Yes, my lord the king; I am your servant, and I will do all that you have commanded.” And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David’s table,[c] like one of the king’s own sons.
12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. From then on, all the members of Ziba’s household were Mephibosheth’s servants. 13 And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king’s table.
Footnotes:
9:6 Mephibosheth is another name for Merib-baal.
9:10 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads your master’s grandson.
9:11 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads my table.
INSIGHT: Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, could have been heir to his grandfather’s (King Saul) throne and a potential threat to David’s kingship. But David promised his best friend, Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:42), that he would care for his family. In today’s passage we read how David made good on that promise (2 Sam. 9:9-13).
Where Can We Lean?
By Anne Cetas
I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake. —2 Samuel 9:7
“What a wonderful funeral!” Cindy remarked as we walked out. Helen, our friend, had died. And friend after friend celebrated her by sharing stories of her all-around fun behavior. But Helen’s life wasn’t all jokes and laughter. Her nephew spoke of her faith in Jesus and her care for others. She had taken him into her home when he was young and struggling. Now in his twenties, he said of his Aunt Helen, “She was like a mom to me. She never gave up on me in my struggles. I am sure that if it wasn’t for her, I would have lost my faith.” Wow! What an influence! Helen leaned on Jesus and wanted her nephew to trust Him too.
In the Old Testament, we read that King David took a young man named Mephibosheth into his home with the purpose of showing him kindness for the sake of his father, Jonathan (David’s friend who had died; see 2 Sam. 9:1). Years earlier, Mephibosheth had been injured when his nurse dropped him as they fled after the news that his father had been killed (4:4). He was surprised that the king would care for him; he even referred to himself as “a dead dog” (9:8). Yet the king treated him as his own son (9:11).
I’d like to be that kind of person, wouldn’t you? Someone who cares for others and helps them hang on to faith in Jesus even when life looks hopeless.
Lord, You showed the ultimate kindness by rescuing us when we were helpless in our sins. May our lives be marked by kindness so that others will see You in us.
God does most of His work for people through people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
The Habit of Having No Habits
If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful… —2 Peter 1:8
When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. There are times when we are aware of becoming virtuous and godly, but this awareness should only be a stage we quickly pass through as we grow spiritually. If we stop at this stage, we will develop a sense of spiritual pride. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the Lord until they become such a spontaneous expression of our lives that we are no longer aware of them. Our spiritual life continually causes us to focus our attention inwardly for the determined purpose of self-examination, because each of us has some qualities we have not yet added to our lives.
Your god may be your little Christian habit— the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day. Watch how your Father will upset your schedule if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes. We say, “I can’t do that right now; this is my time alone with God.” No, this is your time alone with your habit. There is a quality that is still lacking in you. Identify your shortcoming and then look for opportunities to work into your life that missing quality.
Love means that there are no visible habits— that your habits are so immersed in the Lord that you practice them without realizing it. If you are consciously aware of your own holiness, you place limitations on yourself from doing certain things— things God is not restricting you from at all. This means there is a missing quality that needs to be added to your life. The only supernatural life is the life the Lord Jesus lived, and He was at home with God anywhere. Is there someplace where you are not at home with God? Then allow God to work through whatever that particular circumstance may be until you increase in Him, adding His qualities. Your life will then become the simple life of a child.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Your Daily God Hunt - #7392
When I was a kid, someone came up with a new idea for entertainment. No, not hieroglyphics! It's called 3-D movies. They've actually made a comeback in recent years and they might even be more popular than they were back then. Back then, we put on these cardboard sunglasses. Boy, what a fashion statement! Now they are at least plastic. And just like then, things begin walking toward the screen, and then they walk right out of the screen and they walk practically into your face. Of course, when you take those glasses off, it's just a flat old screen again. But when you have those glasses on, you see things you otherwise would never have seen.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Daily God Hunt."
People ask me, "How do you get the analogies you use in A Word With You?" Our word for today from the Word of God is actually part of the answer. Proverbs 24:32, "I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw." Now, here was King Solomon, a very wise man. He said, "I go out looking for lessons. And from what I see, I apply my heart to the things that I see around me all day." See, he got his glasses on. And when he did, he got to see the hand of God in everyday stuff.
There's a hymn called I Am His And He Is Mine. I just remember so vividly the words of the second verse. "Heaven above is deeper blue; earth below is deeper green. There's a brightness in each hue Christless eyes have never seen." See, if you know God as your Father, and you put your trust in Jesus as Savior, then you can say, "This is my Father's world." He's working all around you all the time, every day, and you can see Him. You can learn from Him if you put your glasses on each day. I call them your 4-D, 4-dimension glasses to see the God dimension, because it's working all around us.
You been moping around lately? It's probably because you've lost the perspective of David that he said makes people joyful. Psalm 118:24, "This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." He made this day what it is. You say, "My boss! My family made this day, my mate made this day, my bills, my health, my to-do list makes this day what it is. I'm sorry you're stuck in the middle of your 3-dimensional world. "This is the day the Lord has made!"
So you go on a "God hunt" every day; looking for the Lord in the events of your day, the conversations of your day, your traffic jams, your delays, your surprises, your interruptions, the people, the stores. Moses saw the Lord in a desert bush. Balaam heard God's voice through his donkey. Levi met Jesus in the middle of a workday.
This is where praise comes from, in the common stuff of a day. See, if you look through your 4-D glasses, your God glasses, suddenly you've sensed God in your phone calls, your emails, your interruptions that can't be avoided, that word of encouragement somebody gives you. There's the Lord in that little child. He's speaking in that powerful storm now, in the geese flying by overhead. He's in the unanticipated help you just got in your life. You find yourself thanking God often throughout the day. Guess what? You don't complain as much.
How many times have we confined our God in our theology and our beliefs; this religious compartment of our life? But when you put on your 4-D glasses, you start to walk with your God throughout your day. You see His fingerprints on things you never saw them on before and God becomes more and more real to you. As you do that with your family, He becomes more and more real to them as you share your God-sightings.
He wants to show you all kinds of things about Him in the everyday stuff of your day. So, put on your God-tinted glasses and see in 4-D the beauty of the world your Father has made.
