Max Lucado Daily: God Gives Hope
God gives hope! So what if someone was born thinner or stronger, lighter or darker than you? Why count diplomas or compare resumes? What does it matter if they have a place at the head table? You have a place at God's table! And he's filling your cup to overflowing. Hasn't our Father given us a strong wall of grace to protect us? A sure exit to deliver us? Of whom can we be envious? Who has more than we do?
Rather than want what others have, shouldn't we wonder if they have what we do? Instead of being jealous of them, how about zealous for them? Hold out the cup! There's enough to go around. One thing is certain. When the final storm comes and you are safe in your Father's house, you won't regret what he didn't give. You will be stunned at what he did.
From Traveling Light
1 Samuel 31
The Death of Saul
Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua. 3 The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him severely.
4 Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and taunt and torture me.”
But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died beside the king. 6 So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and his troops all died together that same day.
7 When the Israelites on the other side of the Jezreel Valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. So the Philistines moved in and occupied their towns.
8 The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa. 9 So they cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor. Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul’s death in their pagan temple and to the people throughout the land of Philistia. 10 They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.
11 But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Read: Proverbs 30:1-4
The Sayings of Agur
The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh contain this message.[a]
I am weary, O God;
I am weary and worn out, O God.[b]
2 I am too stupid to be human,
and I lack common sense.
3 I have not mastered human wisdom,
nor do I know the Holy One.
4 Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down?
Who holds the wind in his fists?
Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak?
Who has created the whole wide world?
What is his name—and his son’s name?
Tell me if you know!
Footnotes:
30:1a Or son of Jakeh from Massa; or son of Jakeh, an oracle.
30:1b The Hebrew can also be translated The man declares this to Ithiel, / to Ithiel and to Ucal.
INSIGHT: The book of Proverbs contains many pithy sayings that promote a wise approach to life. Living by them does not guarantee that life will always go smoothly, but taking their advice will help avoid unnecessary problems. Proverbs 30 is slightly different in that it is prefaced by a reflection on the wisdom of the Lord. By introducing the Lord in the beginning of his reflection, Agur acknowledges that he has not “mastered human wisdom” (v. 3 NLT) and suggests that all wisdom is from the Lord.
I’m Stumped
By Mart DeHaan
I am afraid that . . . your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. —2 Corinthians 11:3 niv
The riddle stumped me: What is greater than God—and more evil than the devil? The poor have it. The rich need it. And if you eat it you will die.
I missed the solution by allowing my mind to be distracted from the obvious answer: “Nothing.”
That riddle reminds me of another test of wits that would have been far more difficult to solve when it was originally posed. An ancient wise man named Agur asked: “Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?” (Prov. 30:4).
Today, we know the answer to those questions. But sometimes when we’re in the middle of the questions, worries, and needs of our lives we may lose sight of the obvious. The details of life can so easily distract us from the One who answers the most important riddle: Who is One with God; more powerful than the devil; the poor can have Him; the rich need Him; and if you eat and drink from His table, you’ll never die? Jesus Christ, the Lord.
Father, in the details and distractions of our spiritual journey, it is so easy to look right past You and Your Son. May we see You today in a new and fresh way.
Focusing on God helps us to take our eyes off our circumstances.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Unquestioned Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing. —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, May 28, 2015
The Man of the House - the Family Drummer - #7404
Back in Kindergarten we all had to play a little instrument in this band our teacher put together. I got to feeling the kids with the musical ability got nice things to play. Looking back, I realize that those of us who were musically incompetent were assigned to "play the sticks." I got two drum sticks. All we had to do was hit the floor with them. See? Yeah, it didn't take a whole lot of ability.
Now, since my son's ministry has included his participation in some Christian bands, I have since learned that the person with the drum sticks is not a musical klutz after all. See, my son says as the drummer goes, so goes the song; so goes the band. There was this drummer he raised up for their outreach band. He had a tremendous sense of rhythm, no matter what the audience did, no matter what rhythmic detours another band member took, no matter what the volume was, no matter what the style, Jerry always kept a steady beat. He kept the whole band together by providing a steady rhythm.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Man of the House - the Family Drummer."
It's clear from the Bible who was supposed to be the drummer of the band in every family. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 3:8-9. The first family; Adam and Eve sinned that first awful sin with the tree in the garden. It says, "And then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden, but the Lord called to the man, ‘Where are you?'"
Wait a minute! It was Eve that lost the beat; the steady rhythm of the commands of God in a way that He had designed them to live. She sinned first. But who does God come looking for? For the drummer-the man. See, God had given the beat to Adam, who was supposed to communicate to Eve and she lost the rhythm. When Eve missed it, God comes looking for the person He holds ultimately responsible for the condition of the family-the man.
It's amazing how the very first chapter of human history demonstrates a principle that remains true with over seven billion of us around now. If Adam is where he should be, Eve's in good shape. Cain and Abel, the children, they're doing well. And the garden is working beautifully. But if Adam's messed up, Eve's going to be confused about who she is. Cain and Able are going to be in bad shape. And the garden's going to be a mess.
Sound like our world today? Women caught in an identity crisis. Who should they be? What should they be? We have confused, disintegrating children; a world that's pretty much a mess. Everybody in the band is making up their own song, and the result is just noise. How did we lose the beat? It all goes back to the one God designed to provide a steady rhythm for the family to follow - the man of the house.
If you're a man, be sure you're stepping up to what God holds you responsible for; setting the spiritual and emotional climate of your family. You are the thermostat. If you wonder why your wife is acting that way, why your child is acting that way? Why don't you start by looking in the mirror? The way your Creator set it up, Eve and Cain and Abel follow the beat we play.
If you're an unmarried woman, seek a man who is a steady spiritual drummer, and don't get desperate. Don't settle for less. You'll regret it your whole life. If you're a married woman, you're not going to be able to nag your husband into being a spiritual leader. Pray him into it, and gently thank him for every glimmer you see of the man you need him to be. See, the beat we're meant to live by is in the heart of God. It's to be faithfully and steadily played by the man in each home. And then the rest of the band follows him.
Remember, as the drummer goes, so goes the music; so goes the band. As the husband goes, as the father goes, so goes the family.