Max Lucado Daily: The Master Builder
Several years ago the state was rebuilding an overpass near my house. Three lanes reduced to one, transforming a morning commute into a daily stew. The project, like human history, had been in development since before time began. My next-door neighbors at the time were highway engineers, consultants to the department of transportation. “It’ll take time,” they responded to my grumbles, “but it will all get finished.” They had seen the plans.
In the Old Testament story of Joseph, God allows us to study His plans. Brothers dumping brother. But watch the Master Builder at work. He cleared debris, stabilized the structure. And the chaos of Genesis 37:24…They cast him into the pit..became the triumph of Genesis 50:20— life for many people. God redeemed the story of Joseph. Can’t He redeem your story as well?
From You’ll Get Through This
John 1:1-28
Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,[a]
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.[b]
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist,[c] 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human[d] and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.[e] And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”
16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.[f] 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God,[g] is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants[h] from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” 20 He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
“No,” he replied.
“Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”[i]
“No.”
22 “Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”[j]
24 Then the Pharisees who had been sent 25 asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”
26 John told them, “I baptize with[k] water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. 27 Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.”
28 This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
Footnotes:
1:3-4 Or and nothing that was created was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything.
1:5 Or and the darkness has not understood it.
1:6 Greek a man named John.
1:14a Greek became flesh.
1:14b Or grace and truth; also in 1:17.
1:16 Or received the grace of Christ rather than the grace of the law; Greek reads received grace upon grace.
1:18 Some manuscripts read But the one and only Son.
1:19 Greek and Levites.
1:21 Greek Are you the Prophet? See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
1:23 Isa 40:3.
1:26 Or in; also in 1:31, 33.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, June 05, 2015
Read: Philippians 3:7-17
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[a] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
Pressing toward the Goal
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[b] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.
Footnotes:
3:9 Or through the faithfulness of Christ.
3:13 Some manuscripts read not yet achieved it.
INSIGHT:
In the verses preceding today’s reading (see vv. 4-6), Paul describes his credentials—his “confidence in the flesh”—including his religious upbringing, his ethnic heritage, his zeal, and a lifetime of devotion to the law of Moses. However, all of this is nothing compared to knowing Christ and receiving the gift of salvation (vv. 7-8).
What We Do
By David C. McCasland
One thing I do . . . I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:13-14
When Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert died, a fellow journalist wrote of him: “With all his notoriety, honors, and celebrity, all his exclusive interviews and star-dusted encounters with movie greats, Ebert never forgot the essence of what we do—review movies. And he reviewed them with an infectious zeal and probing intellect” (Dennis King, The Oklahoman).
The apostle Paul never forgot the essence of what God wanted him to be and do. Focus and enthusiasm were at the heart of his relationship with Christ. Whether he was reasoning with philosophers in Athens, experiencing shipwreck in the Mediterranean, or being chained to a Roman soldier in prison, he focused on his calling to know “Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings” and to teach about Him (Phil. 3:10).
While he was in prison, Paul wrote, “I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:13-14). Whatever his circumstances, Paul continually pressed forward in his calling as a disciple of Christ.
May we always remember the essence, the heart, of who we are called to be and what we are called to do as followers of Jesus.
Father, may I be willing to do what I can with all that I have, wherever I am.
Paul was in earnest over one thing only, and that was his relationship to Jesus Christ. Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 05, 2015
God’s Assurance
He Himself has said….So we may boldly say… —Hebrews 13:5-6
My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.
What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ‘The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you….’ ”
Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 05, 2015
Stomping On the Devil - #7410
Hunting season has always been a pretty big deal for my friend, Stan. Actually, he was a young man the day that he and his cousin were on a trip that turned out to be one of their more memorable trips - all because of the rattlesnake. Yeah, they were deep in the woods turkey hunting when they heard that telltale rattle behind them. Stan turned, fired his gun, and I don't mean to be crude, but he actually shot the head off the rattlesnake.
Stan said to his cousin, "Hey, why don't you pick it up?" "No, I don't want to pick it up; it's a rattlesnake." "Oh, are you chicken? (That will do it every time.) It can't hurt you any more." So, of course, his cousin had to pick it up. Suddenly he heard that rattle going again. He screamed and he threw the snake in the air. Of course the rattle was just a reflex. Obviously that rattlesnake couldn't do any more damage. Stan laughed at his cousin who said, "You pick it up, Stan." Well, finally Stan started to pick it up, and of course, the rattle started clicking again. At which point Stan did exactly what his cousin had done: scream and throw the snake in the air.
The scene was repeated all the way home, even though that rattler couldn't possibly bite them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stomping On the Devil."
Satan's first appearance to man comes in the form of (a what)? Right, serpent. Well, Adam and Eve fell for his lies and brought sin into the world. Satan had won. But right there at the dawn of time, God told the Devil what his fate would ultimately be in Genesis 3:15. He said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers." And then referring to the seed who would ultimately come, God said, "He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
God sent His Son in human form and Satan would be able to wound him. But the Savior would crush Satan's head forever. Sounds a little like what happened to that rattlesnake that day in the woods.
In our word for today from the Word of God, God describes when Satan struck the Savior's heel and the Savior crushed Satan's head. Colossians 2:15, "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Until Jesus' death on the cross, sin was man's unchallenged slave master. But when Jesus paid all the death penalties for all the sins of all of us, He smashed the power of sin and Satan.
When you put all your trust in Jesus to be your Savior, a rescue takes place. Colossians 1:13 says, "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loved." The bottom line is this: If you belong to Jesus Christ and you stay close to Him, the Devil cannot hurt you. To put it bluntly, the head of the snake was blown off at the cross of Jesus.
You say, "I don't know, it seems like the Devil has a powerful pull on me." Sure, he wants to intimidate you; wants to make you live in fear, worry, and make you retreat spiritually. He seems to have quite a bite. Wrong! According to God's Word, if you are a disciple of Jesus, the worst the Devil can do is rattle - make some scary noise. But he cannot bite one who belongs to Jesus Christ; someone who's been bought and paid for with the blood of God's Son. The only reason you have to fear this snake is if you're away from Jesus.
In John's vision of heaven in Revelation, he sees believers who "overcame the Devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." If you've been hearing the rattle of the serpent, keep praying in the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus. The forces of darkness cannot stay where a person is standing on the authority of Jesus' blood; His crushing of Satan's head.
It may be that you've never moved out of the kingdom of darkness. You have never taken for you the sacrifice Jesus made and the victory He won on the cross which was for you. He walked out of His grave so He could walk into your life. So you would now have the power to prevail over the darkness that has prevailed over you for too long. If you want that, would you tell Jesus today, "Jesus, I'm yours." Would you go to our website and would you let me know you've prayed that? Or there find out how to begin a relationship with Jesus. I want you to know more about how to serve Him. Go to ANewStory.com.
You don't have to be afraid of the snake. It's just a rattle. His head is crushed. He has no bite. "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you."