Worry is the burlap bag of burdens-overflowing with whaddifs! Whaddif it rains at my wedding? Whaddif after all my dieting, they discover lettuce is fattening and chocolate isn't? The burlap bag of worry!
No one wants your worries. Truth be told, you don't want them either. No one has to remind you the high cost of anxiety, but I will anyway. Worry isn't a disease, but it causes diseases-high blood pressure, heart trouble, migraines, and a host of stomach disorders. Jesus said in Matthew 6:27, "You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it." Worrying is one job you can't farm out, but you can overcome it. David declares in Psalm 23:2, "He leads me beside the still waters." He leads me. He is ahead of me. He is in front. God leads us! And what a difference that makes!
From Traveling Light
Luke 22:47-71
Jesus Is Betrayed and Arrested
But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss. 48 But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” 50 And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear.
51 But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? 53 Why didn't you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”
Peter Denies Jesus
54 So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. 55 The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. 56 A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”
57 But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”
58 After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”
“No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted.
59 About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”
60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
63 The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you that time?” 65 And they hurled all sorts of terrible insults at him.
Jesus before the Council
66 At daybreak all the elders of the people assembled, including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. Jesus was led before this high council,[a] 67 and they said, “Tell us, are you the Messiah?”
But he replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. 68 And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand.[b]”
70 They all shouted, “So, are you claiming to be the Son of God?”
And he replied, “You say that I am.”
71 “Why do we need other witnesses?” they said. “We ourselves heard him say it.”
Footnotes:
22:66 Greek before their Sanhedrin.
22:69 See Ps 110:1.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 18, 2015
Romans 13:10-14
Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
11 This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. 13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.
INSIGHT: Paul often discusses the need to walk (live) properly. He writes to the church in Ephesus to remind them to walk in the light of good deeds because they have been saved by God’s grace (Eph. 2:1-10). To the church in Rome, he prescribes a different motivation for living according to the Lord Jesus Christ—because “salvation is nearer” (Rom. 13:11). Because the time of the Lord’s return is approaching, we are to leave behind the deeds of darkness.
One Step Closer
By David H. Roper
Now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. —Romans 13:11
Some years ago a friend and I set out to climb Mount Whitney. At 14,505 feet, it is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. We arrived at Whitney Portal late one evening, rolled out our sleeping bags at base camp, and tried to get some sleep before we began our ascent at first light. Whitney is not a technical climb but rather a long, exhausting walk—11 miles of relentless ascent.
The climb, though hard-going, was exhilarating, with stunning vistas, beautiful blue lakes, and lush meadows along the way. But the trail grew long and exhausting, a test for legs and lungs. I thought of turning back as the day wore on and the trail seemed to stretch endlessly before us.
Occasionally, however, I caught a glimpse of the summit and realized that each step was bringing me one step closer. If I just kept walking, I would get there. That was the thought that kept me going.
Paul assures us, “Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Rom. 13:11). Every day brings us one day closer to that great day when we shall “summit” and see our Savior’s face. That’s the thought that can keep us going.
Dear Lord, may I, for the joy set before me, endure with patience the hardship of the trail. When my journey is over, I will see You face to face and live with You forever.
Now we see Jesus in the Bible, but someday we’ll see Him face to face.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 18, 2015
Living Simply— Yet Focused
Look at the birds of the air….Consider the lilies of the field… —Matthew 6:26, 28
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin”— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Do not worry about being of use to others; simply believe on Me.” In other words, pay attention to the Source, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually— just as “the lilies of the field.”
The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and “the lilies of the field”— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us.
If you want to be of use to God, maintain the proper relationship with Jesus Christ by staying focused on Him, and He will make use of you every minute you live— yet you will be unaware, on the conscious level of your life, that you are being used of Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 18, 2015
Skydive Seizure - When Someone You Know is Falling Fast - #7396
Some 16 million people saw Christopher Jones' skydive on YouTube. He bails out of the plane. Everything's going great...until the seizure. After four years of being seizure-free, he was cleared to jump.
But at 9,000 feet, Christopher suddenly rolled onto his back, unconscious. Plunging earthward at 120 miles an hour! Thank God, his instructor Sheldon McFarlane responded immediately. But as Christopher convulsed, he was falling farther out of reach. Finally, McFarlane got close enough to reach his unconscious student; just 4,000 feet from looming disaster below. He pulled his student's ripcord, the chute opened, and in Christopher's words, "He saved my life."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Skydive Seizure - When Someone You Know is Falling Fast."
It was a heart-stopper for sure, and for me it was a solemn reminder. On almost any given week there is someone in my personal world – and probably in yours – who is falling fast, spinning out of control and in need of a rescue. And you're the one who's in a position to catch them if you notice them.
Maybe it's a disturbing post on Facebook, a sudden withdrawing from people, just a troubled countenance, mood swings, some angry outburst. In one form or another, what you're seeing and hearing is a cry for help. The question is, "Is my radar on for a hurting person, for a wounded person, an excluded person, maybe a lonely person, the person with the breaking heart or the broken heart?"
Or am I all wrapped up in my list, my schedule, and my troubles, too self-absorbed to notice someone who's falling within my reach? But noticing isn't enough. Next comes dropping everything to help them, because nothing's more urgent than rescuing the guy who's going down.
Centuries ago, God appeared to an outback shepherd in a burning bush – Moses. You may have heard of him. And God told Moses, in our word for today from the Word of God, Exodus 3, beginning in verse 7, "I have seen the misery of My people in Egypt (where they of course were oppressed slaves)...I have heard them crying out...I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them." Good! Now the shocker for Moses in verse 10, "So now, go. I am sending you" (Exodus 3:7-10).
That might be a conversation God's wanting to have with you - probably minus the burning bush. Because He has heard the cries, even the silent cries of the people around you. And He has a plan to rescue them – you.
It is for rescue that God came to earth; to die on a cross to rescue us from the awful eternal death penalty of our sins, to walk out of His grave to offer us a forever with Him. And He rescues us to then be a rescuer; to tell people His Good News about belonging to Him, to be His voice, to be His face, to be His hands. He wants you to deliver His message. He wants you to be the one who lifts their burden in His name. He wants you to be the one who shows them what He's like. He wants you to be the one who tells them how to be with Him forever by having their sins forgiven at Jesus' cross.
How are you doing? Because that's why you are where you are. God put you there to rescue some folks. Maybe you've never experienced the rescuing power of Jesus and you're falling fast. He has come to swoop down and grab you today. Would you grab that hand, that nail scarred hand and say, "Jesus, I'm yours." Begin to belong to Him today. Be safe finally for now and forever.
You can find out more about how if you just go to our website ANewStory.com. If you've been rescued by Jesus, then you've got to dive in for the rescue of others. It's not optional. Not when someone's falling fast. It's life-or-death.