Max Lucado Daily: Get Over Yourself
Proverbs 16:5 says, "The Lord despises pride." So, get over yourself!
An elementary boy came home from tryouts for the school play. "Mommy, mommy" he announced, "I got a part. I've been chosen to sit in the audience and clap and cheer." When you have a chance to clap and cheer, do you take it? If you do, your head is starting to fit your hat size.
Demanding respect is like chasing a butterfly. Chase it, and you'll never catch it. Sit still, and it may light on your shoulder. The Bible says in Proverbs 27:2, "Don't praise yourself. Let someone else do it." Does your self-esteem need attention? You need only pause at the base of the cross and be reminded of this: The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that's a fact!
From Traveling Light
1 Samuel 29
The Philistines Reject David
The entire Philistine army now mobilized at Aphek, and the Israelites camped at the spring in Jezreel. 2 As the Philistine rulers were leading out their troops in groups of hundreds and thousands, David and his men marched at the rear with King Achish. 3 But the Philistine commanders demanded, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”
And Achish told them, “This is David, the servant of King Saul of Israel. He’s been with me for years, and I’ve never found a single fault in him from the day he arrived until today.”
4 But the Philistine commanders were angry. “Send him back to the town you’ve given him!” they demanded. “He can’t go into the battle with us. What if he turns against us in battle and becomes our adversary? Is there any better way for him to reconcile himself with his master than by handing our heads over to him? 5 Isn’t this the same David about whom the women of Israel sing in their dances,
‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
6 So Achish finally summoned David and said to him, “I swear by the Lord that you have been a trustworthy ally. I think you should go with me into battle, for I’ve never found a single flaw in you from the day you arrived until today. But the other Philistine rulers won’t hear of it. 7 Please don’t upset them, but go back quietly.”
8 “What have I done to deserve this treatment?” David demanded. “What have you ever found in your servant, that I can’t go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?”
9 But Achish insisted, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re as perfect as an angel of God. But the Philistine commanders are afraid to have you with them in the battle. 10 Now get up early in the morning, and leave with your men as soon as it gets light.”
11 So David and his men headed back into the land of the Philistines, while the Philistine army went on to Jezreel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 25, 2015
Read: Exodus 15:1–2,13–18
A Song of Deliverance
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider
into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
This is my God, and I will praise him—
my father’s God, and I will exalt him!
Exodus 15:13-18
“With your unfailing love you lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your might, you guide them
to your sacred home.
14 The peoples hear and tremble;
anguish grips those who live in Philistia.
15 The leaders of Edom are terrified;
the nobles of Moab tremble.
All who live in Canaan melt away;
16 terror and dread fall upon them.
The power of your arm
makes them lifeless as stone
until your people pass by, O Lord,
until the people you purchased pass by.
17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain—
the place, O Lord, reserved for your own dwelling,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever!”
INSIGHT: Moses’s song after the Israelites had passed through the Red Sea and were delivered from the pursuing Egyptians has two perspectives—one looking back and one looking forward. In the first verses, Moses reflects on what God has done to deliver His people (vv. 1-2). In the later verses, Moses looks forward to what God will do to establish His people in their new land (vv. 13-18).
Our Strength And Song
By David C. McCasland
The Lord shall reign forever and ever. —Exodus 15:18
Often called “The March King,” composer and band director John Philip Sousa created music that has been played by bands around the world for more than a hundred years. As Loras John Schissel, music historian and conductor of the Virginia Grand Military Band, said, “Sousa is to marches what Beethoven is to symphonies.” Sousa understood the power of music to motivate, encourage, and inspire people.
In Old Testament times, the people of Israel were often inspired to compose and sing songs to celebrate God’s help during times of need. When the Lord saved His people from certain destruction by Pharaoh’s army, “Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord . . . ‘I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation’?” (Ex. 15:1-2).
Music has the power to lift our spirits by reminding us of God’s faithfulness in the past. When we’re discouraged, we can sing songs and hymns that raise our eyes from the challenging circumstances we face to see the power and presence of the Lord. We are reminded that He is our strength, our song, and our salvation.
Trust in Him, ye saints, forever—
He is faithful, changing never;
Neither force nor guile can sever
Those He loves from Him. —Kelly
Songs of praise raise our eyes to see God’s faithfulness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 25, 2015
The Good or The Best?
If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left. —Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and physically gratifying possibilities will open up before you. These things are yours by right, but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God make your choice for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the appropriate thing to consider, if you were not living the life of faith. But if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and allow God to make your choice for you. This is the discipline God uses to transform the natural into the spiritual through obedience to His voice.
Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. In this passage, it would seem that the wisest thing in the world for Abram to do would be to choose. It was his right, and the people around him would consider him to be a fool for not choosing.
Many of us do not continue to grow spiritually because we prefer to choose on the basis of our rights, instead of relying on God to make the choice for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eyes focused on God. And God says to us, as He did to Abram, “…walk before Me…” (Genesis 17:1).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 25, 2015
How to Sweeten Your Dark Side - #7401
A Veteran's Haunting Memorial Day Question
New blog from Ron Hutchcraft
Memorial Day's different when you're a veteran or a loved one of someone who died for America's freedom. Every day is Memorial Day. Because freedom's price has a name, a face, an empty chair at the table.
When your life moves as fast as mine does, your food has to often move pretty fast too. As in those drive-thru orders at fast food restaurants. Now, I know the menu pretty well, and this particular day my order was pretty predictable, including my drink, which was usually an iced tea.
I'm not a regular tea drinker, but the tea was pretty good at this one place because it was pre-sweetened. To me, tea without sweetener tastes just a little bitter, a little bland. So, being a fast food frequent flier, I would always search for this particular fast food chain to get my tea the way I liked it. In other parts of the country I've discovered an unpleasant difference when I take that first drink, because they give it to me unsweetened. I'm telling you, it isn't nearly as good that way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Sweeten Your Dark Side."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 119:103-104. By the way, actually, I am a lot like iced tea. I am more enjoyable when I've had my sweetener added. Conversely, I'm sometimes more bitter to the taste, maybe bland when I haven't had my sweetener.
Okay, here are the verses, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path." Well, David's talking here about the sweetening effect of God's Word and how it turns him away from the bitter stuff.
It's God's Word that neutralizes the bitter taste of our sinful, selfish side. Verse 11 in this same Psalm says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Now, if you've been around the Jesus life very long, you've heard plenty about the importance of daily Bible reading, devotions, quiet time. For some, that's just a part of a check list of spiritual "dos". And it's one that is often neglected.
If you have difficulty maintaining a consistent Bible reading time, would you raise your hand right now? Okay, hands going up all over the place. There are plenty of us. This has got to be something more than an entry on your list of Christian chores. One of the things that keeps me going back to God's Word is what happens when I don't; when I'm away from it for very long. Honestly, I miss the sweetness. We all have our dark side; sinful, selfish, angry, dirty, bitter, resentful, jealous. Maybe it's a short temper, sarcastic attitude, or words that wound people, complaining, worrying, self-centeredness, lying, or lust.
The time that you spend with the Lord and His Word serves as a restraining force for that dark side of us, "That I might not sin against You." Each morning as I sit with God's Word in my lap, and as I let it look into my heart, (I don't just read it; it reads me.) the Lord seems to tame and restrain the ugly part of me. But when I miss time with Him for very long, I'll tell you, my dark side starts to surface more and more. So frankly, I can't afford to miss my time with the Lord. It hurts me and it hurts those I love.
It's the time in God's presence, soaking up God's Word - God's perspective - that renews your perspective, that restrains your dark side, that lifts the load that has you all bent over, and it energizes you with the joy of your Jesus' relationship. Without that, you're unsweetened tea. And I guess each new day is a new cup of tea.
Whether or not you leave a bitter or sweet taste in people's lives depends on whether or not you've been sweetened by being around your Savior; by absorbing His perspective - seeing things and people and situations through His eyes. Remember, His words are sweeter than honey, and you won't be sweet for long without them.