Max Lucado Daily: Doubt Storms
Sometimes I wonder…how can our world get so chaotic? And I sometimes wonder why so many hearts have to hurt? Do you ever get doubt storms? Do you have turbulent days when the enemy is too big, and the answers too few? Every so often a storm will come, and I'll look up into the blackening sky and say, "God, a little light, please?"
The light came for Jesus' disciples. A figure came to them walking on the water. It wasn't what they expected. Maybe they were listening for a divine proclamation to still the storm. One thing is for sure, they were not looking for Jesus to come walking on the water. "It's a ghost,' they said and cried out in fear." And since Jesus came in a way they didn't expect, they almost missed seeing the answer to their prayers. And unless we look and listen closely, we risk making the same mistake!
From In the Eye of the Storm
Psalm 29
A psalm of David.
1 Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings[b];
honor the Lord for his glory and strength.
2 Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;
he makes Mount Hermon[c] leap like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes
with bolts of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks[d]
and strips the forests bare.
In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”
10 The Lord rules over the floodwaters.
The Lord reigns as king forever.
11 The Lord gives his people strength.
The Lord blesses them with peace.
Footnotes:
29:1 Hebrew you sons of God.
29:6 Hebrew Sirion, another name for Mount Hermon.
29:9 Or causes the deer to writhe in labor.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Read: Romans 15:1-7
Living to Please Others
We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.”[a] 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
Footnotes:
15:3 Greek who insult you have fallen on me. Ps 69:9.
INSIGHT:
In Romans 14:1–15:7 Paul addressed a conflict between “strong” believers and “weak” believers that threatened the unity of the Roman church. The dispute was not over any core doctrines, but over some Old Testament laws (Rom. 14:1-6). The “strong”—or mature in faith—were those who believed that Christians no longer needed to observe these laws (vv. 2,15). Paul asked the mature believers not to despise the less mature, and the weak not to condemn the strong (v. 3). He called for tolerance and acceptance of each other’s convictions and practices. In today’s passage he lays the responsibility on the mature to be sensitive to the convictions of those weaker in faith and to help build them up (15:1-2). Sim Kay Tee
The Waving Girl
By Bill Crowder
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. —Romans 15:7 niv
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a familiar sight greeted ships as they pulled into the port of Savannah, Georgia. That sight was Florence Martus, “The Waving Girl.” For 44 years, Florence greeted the great ships from around the world, waving a handkerchief by day or a lantern by night. Today, a statue of Florence and her faithful dog stands in Savannah’s Morrell Park, permanently welcoming incoming vessels.
There is something in a warm welcome that speaks of acceptance. In Romans 15:7, Paul urged his readers: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you” (niv). Paul had in view our treatment of each other as followers of Christ, for in verses 5-6 he challenged us to live in harmony with one another. The key is to have “the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (niv).
Our acceptance of our fellow believers in Christ demonstrates more than just our love for each other—it reflects the great love of the One who has permanently welcomed us into His family.
Father, give me a heart for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please give us, together, a heart for one another, so that we will love and honor You in all we do.
Share this prayer from our Facebook page with your friends. facebook.com/ourdailybread
The closer Christians get to Christ, the closer they get to one another.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
The Evidence of the New Birth
August 15, 2015
You must be born again. —John 3:7
The answer to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born when he is old?” is: Only when he is willing to die to everything in his life, including his rights, his virtues, and his religion, and becomes willing to receive into himself a new life that he has never before experienced (John 3:4). This new life exhibits itself in our conscious repentance and through our unconscious holiness.
“But as many as received Him…” (John 1:12). Is my knowledge of Jesus the result of my own internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned through listening to others? Is there something in my life that unites me with the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior? My spiritual history must have as its underlying foundation a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. To be born again means that I see Jesus.
“…unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” (John 3:3). Am I seeking only for the evidence of God’s kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? The new birth gives me a new power of vision by which I begin to discern God’s control. His sovereignty was there all the time, but with God being true to His nature, I could not see it until I received His very nature myself.
“Whoever has been born of God does not sin…” (1 John 3:9). Am I seeking to stop sinning or have I actually stopped? To be born of God means that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning. The Bible never asks, “Should a Christian sin?” The Bible emphatically states that a Christian must not sin. The work of the new birth is being effective in us when we do not commit sin. It is not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have actually stopped sinning. Yet 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin— it simply means that if we will obey the life of God in us, that we do not have to sin.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance. Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R
