Max Lucado Daily: Loneliness
We'll try anything to get rid of our loneliness. But should we? Should we be so quick to drop it? Could it be that loneliness is a gift? A gift from God? A friend turns away. The job goes bad. Your spouse didn't understand. The church is dull. One by one he removes the options until all you have left is God. He would do that? Hebrews 12:6 tells us, "The Lord disciplines those he loves." If he must silence every voice, he will. He wants you to discover what David discovered and to be able to say what David said, "You are with me."
Loneliness. Could it be one of God's finest gifts? Scripture says, "Perfect love casts out fear." If a season of solitude is his way to teach you to hear his song, don't you think it's worth it? So do I.
From Traveling Light
Luke 23:26-56
The Crucifixion
As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene,[a] happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. 28 But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30 People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’[b] 31 For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?[c]”
32 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. 33 When they came to a place called The Skull,[d] they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”[e] And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.[f]
35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”
40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The Death of Jesus
44 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45 The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!”[g] And with those words he breathed his last.
47 When the Roman officer[h] overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.[i]” 48 And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow.[j] 49 But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.
The Burial of Jesus
50 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, 51 but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. 52 He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. 54 This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation,[k] as the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.
Footnotes:
23:26 Cyrene was a city in northern Africa.
23:30 Hos 10:8.
23:31 Or If these things are done to me, the living tree, what will happen to you, the dry tree?
23:33 Sometimes rendered Calvary, which comes from the Latin word for “skull.”
23:34a This sentence is not included in many ancient manuscripts.
23:34b Greek by casting lots. See Ps 22:18.
23:46 Ps 31:5.
23:47a Greek the centurion.
23:47b Or righteous.
23:48 Greek went home beating their breasts.
23:54 Greek It was the day of preparation.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Read: Mark 4:35-41
Jesus Calms the Storm
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
INSIGHT: Mark 4:35–5:43 records four miracles that answer the question asked in 4:41: “Who can this be . . . ?” They demonstrate Jesus’ absolute power over nature (4:35-41), the spiritual world (5:1-20), physical illnesses (5:21-34), and death (5:35-43). Each miracle shows Jesus as the Omnipotent Sovereign God. In Jewish minds the power to control the sea and the waves was exclusive to God (Job 38:8-11; Ps. 65:5-7; Isa. 51:10; Nah. 1:3-5). It’s interesting, however, that in today’s passage Mark provides an amazing contrast. Just before Jesus displayed the awesome powers of His deity by calming the sea, we are given a touching picture of His frail humanity: Jesus was so tired that even the violent tossing of the waves did not wake Him (4:38).
Calming The Storm
By Marvin Williams
He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. —Mark 4:39
While Hurricane Katrina headed toward the coast of Mississippi, a retired pastor and his wife left their home and went to a shelter. Their daughter pleaded with them to go to Atlanta where she could take care of them, but the couple couldn’t get any money to make the trip because the banks were closed. After the storm had passed, they returned to their home to get a few belongings, and were able to salvage only a few family photos floating in the water. Then, when the man was taking his father’s photo out of its frame so it could dry, $366 fell out—precisely the amount needed for two plane tickets to Atlanta. They learned they could trust Jesus for what they needed.
For the disciples, trusting Jesus in a storm was the curriculum for the day in the dramatic narrative of Mark 4:35-41. Jesus had instructed His disciples to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and then He went to sleep in the boat. When a quick and violent storm blew in, the disciples dripped as much with fear and anxiety as water from the waves. They woke Jesus, saying, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (v.38 niv). Jesus stood up and with three words, “Peace, be still!” He muzzled the storm.
We all experience storms—persecutions, financial troubles, illnesses, disappointments, loneliness—and Jesus does not always prevent them. But He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). He will keep us calm in the storm.
Are you in a storm? What do you know about God’s character that could help bring calm to your heart?
In the storms of life, we can see the character of our God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught
Pray without ceasing… —1 Thessalonians 5:17
Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing…”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “…everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But…, but….” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?
The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Deadly Dark Spots in Your Soul - #7402
My wife and I had a very long honeymoon; well, let's just say for a lot of years now. Our honeymoon was in its early years when we got some very scary news. The doctor said that my wife might have a very serious disease. She had a routine physical for her job, and the chest x-rays revealed some suspicious dark spots on her lung. We got that report on a Friday, and we had to wait until Monday to get the final results. It might have been one of the longest weekends of our lives!
When the doctor met with my wife on Monday, he wanted to talk about chickens and farms and growing up in the Midwest. He asked her if any of these things had been a part of her childhood. Well, actually they had, and that explained the spots; a childhood disease they call histoplasmosis. It tends to occur in kids who grow up on Midwestern farms where they breathe the bacteria left by chickens. And what they were looking at on her lungs was the scars left over from that illness.
I knew how serious those dark spots could be. When my father was a young man, he had similar x-rays and they revealed what really was tuberculosis. And from my Dad, that meant two long years in a hospital to save his life and beat that disease. An x-ray can reveal some very bad news, but facing those dark spots can start the healing and it could even save your life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Deadly Dark Spots in Your Soul."
God does x-rays. Actually, heart x-rays; pictures of what's going on inside the deepest parts of you. One of those x-rays is in our word for today from the Word of God beginning in Mark 7:20. He says, "What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. So from within, out of men's hearts, come (Now there's a list here, and we're all in here somewhere.) evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly."
Those are dark spots in the human heart where none of our family or friends or coworkers can see, but God sees. If God illuminated your x-ray or mine to show us what He's found, we might very well see some dark spots on our souls. Of course, the darkness inside doesn't stay inside. It keeps spilling out on the people we love doesn't it? And according to the Bible, those dark spots inside us are the symptoms of a disease that will ultimately kill us. It's called sin; spiritual cancer. That's ignoring God. It's you running your life instead of God running your life. It's hijacking your life from your Creator.
The Bible says, "Sin, when it is finished gives birth to death." It's the death of an eternal separation from our God. The x-rays from God would say "hopeless" except for one incredible hope-giving word - Savior. There's only one name that goes with that title - Jesus.
Here's the amazing cure for our deadly eternal soul disease. It's in 1 John 1:7 of the Bible, "The blood of Jesus, God's Son, purifies us from all sin." That's the possibility of having those dark spots on your soul removed, of having your sin washed away. It's all wrapped up in Jesus shedding His blood on the cross to remove this awful curse. The cure is expensive. Not for you, but for Jesus. It cost Him everything and that cure becomes yours the moment you put all your trust in Jesus to be your personal Rescuer from your personal sin.
You tired of the dark spots and what they're doing to you and doing to others? If you believe your Creator's diagnosis and if you want to escape the death penalty for that diagnosis, then it's time to open your heart to Jesus to become not just the Savior of the world, but the Savior of you. "Jesus, I'm yours."
There's wonderful information I'd love to give you at our website so you can be sure you have begun your relationship with the only One who can save you from your sin. Go to ANewStory.com.
There's no reason to carry the death sentence of that disease of sin one more day, because Jesus is waiting right now to trade that for eternal life.