Max Lucado Daily: Change Your Focus and Relax
Psalm 23:2 says, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures; leads me beside the still waters." Note the two pronouns preceding the two verbs. He makes me. . .He leads me. Who is the active one? Who is in charge? The Shepherd!
We see the waves of the water rather than the Savior walking through them. We focus on our paltry provisions rather than on the One who can feed five thousand hungry people. Change your focus-and relax! While you're at it, change your schedule and rest! Life can get so loud we forget to shut it down. When David says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures," he is saying my shepherd makes me lie down in his finished work. His pasture is his gift to us. This is not the pasture you've made. It is a gift from God, and your Shepherd invites you there!
From Traveling Light
Psalm 142
A psalm[a] of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.
I cry out to the Lord;
I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
3 When I am overwhelmed,
you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go,
my enemies have set traps for me.
4 I look for someone to come and help me,
but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me;
no one cares a bit what happens to me.
5 Then I pray to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.
6 Hear my cry,
for I am very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Bring me out of prison
so I can thank you.
The godly will crowd around me,
for you are good to me.”
Footnotes:
142:Title Hebrew maskil. This may be a literary or musical term.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Read: Psalm 119:14,33-40 |
14 I have rejoiced in your laws
as much as in riches.
33 Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
I will put them into practice with all my heart.
35 Make me walk along the path of your commands,
for that is where my happiness is found.
36 Give me an eagerness for your laws
rather than a love for money!
37 Turn my eyes from worthless things,
and give me life through your word.[a]
38 Reassure me of your promise,
made to those who fear you.
39 Help me abandon my shameful ways;
for your regulations are good.
40 I long to obey your commandments!
Renew my life with your goodness.
Footnotes:
119:37 Some manuscripts read in your ways.
INSIGHT: Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. Its 176 verses are presented in 22 stanzas of 8 verses each, and each stanza corresponds to the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Because it is an acrostic song, Spurgeon said it could be called “the alphabet of love,” for it unfolds God’s loving provision of wisdom for His children.
The Riches Of Obedience
By David C. McCasland
I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. —Psalm 119:14 nlt
Publicly operated lotteries exist in more than 100 countries. In a recent year, lottery ticket sales totaled more than $85 billion in just the US and Canada, only part of the total sales worldwide. The lure of huge jackpots has created a mindset among many that all of life’s problems would be solved “if I won the lottery.”
There’s nothing wrong with wealth itself, but it has the power to deceive us into thinking that money is the answer to all our needs. The psalmist, expressing a different point of view, wrote: “I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. . . . I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word” (Ps. 119:14,16 nlt). This concept of spiritual treasure is focused on obedience to God and walking “in the path of [His] commandments” (v.35).
What if we were more excited about following the Lord’s Word than about winning a jackpot worth millions? With the psalmist we might pray, “Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way” (vv.36-37).
The riches of obedience—true riches—belong to all who walk with the Lord.
Dear Lord, may I commit each day to standing on the unchanging truth of Your Word and to growing in my relationship with You, the only measure of success in this life and in eternity.
Success is knowing and loving God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
The Habit of Keeping a Clear Conscience
…strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. —Acts 24:16
God’s commands to us are actually given to the life of His Son in us. Consequently, to our human nature in which God’s Son has been formed (see Galatians 4:19), His commands are difficult. But they become divinely easy once we obey.
Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and then continually reminds me of what that standard demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward God or toward what we regard as the highest standard. This explains why conscience is different in different people. If I am in the habit of continually holding God’s standard in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The question is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I can live without any offense toward anyone. I should be living in such perfect harmony with God’s Son that the spirit of my mind is being renewed through every circumstance of life, and that I may be able to quickly “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 ; also see Ephesians 4:23).
God always instructs us down to the last detail. Is my ear sensitive enough to hear even the softest whisper of the Spirit, so that I know what I should do? “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” (Ephesians 4:30). He does not speak with a voice like thunder— His voice is so gentle that it is easy for us to ignore. And the only thing that keeps our conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When you begin to debate, stop immediately. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debating possible once your conscience speaks. Whatever it is— drop it, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Carried When You Can't Make It - #7393
At one time our offices were on the third floor of an old factory building. There were a lot of stairs, and they had a pretty steep pitch. One of our team members dropped by one day with her beautiful four-month-old daughter, Katie. Mom was tired. And needless to say, the child wasn't able to climb up the stairs to the third floor on her own. Sometimes adults could barely make it. Mom needed to carry Katie in her arms the whole way. The sight of her carrying her daughter? I hate to say it was almost amusing. Mom was out of breath as she tried to recover. But not Katie! No, she was all cute and wide-eyed. She's not sweating; she's not panting. No, she's totally relaxed, totally cool. Of course she didn't have to do any of the work.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Carried When You Can't Make It."
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God from Deuteronomy 1:29; a wonderful passage on the relationship God the Father has with us, His kids. He says, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them." With Jesus you don't have to be afraid of anything. "The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you." And then He says, "The Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."
That's a beautiful picture! Notice I said a loving parent had come to our office carrying a child where that child could have never gone on her own. All the work was done by the parent. The child? Totally relaxed.
Let's talk about where you are right now. You may be at the end of your strength, the end of your answers, the end of your resources, the end of your money, or the end of your hope. You know what? It's time for "carry power." "As a father carries his son" God says. God has His big arms wide open right now saying, "My child, quit trying to do this on your own. You'll never make it. It's carry time. Come on!"
For some of us self-reliant, stubborn types it's hard to surrender our self-effort. We're not going to make it. God leads us through the desert where we can't survive so we'll finally surrender to being carried. So we'll finally exchange our weakness for His strength and our stress for His peace. That's the exchange that He invites us to in Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything."
But there we are huffing and puffing, trying to crawl up the stairs on our own. He said, "But in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Give the whole load to your Father. Let Him carry you. And He says, "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
That's the lightness of Spirit, the calm in your heart. That's what I saw in little Katie when she came to the office. The one who was carrying her was doing all the work; taking all the strain. Maybe you've got something right now that Jesus needs to carry. And remember, He paid a high price so He would be available; there would be no wall between you and Him so He could carry you and carry your burden.
The hymn says, "What a friend we have in Jesus; all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer."
Now, would you let Him carry what you've carried for way too long? The problem stressing you, whose problem is it to solve? Is it yours or Almighty God's? The mountain that needs to be moved? The person who needs to change? Whose job is it? How you answer those questions will be the difference between great peace or great stress.
With God, you can go to heights you cannot go to alone. Like Katie and her mother carrying her, your Heavenly Father is ready to do that for you if you'll trust His "carry power."