Max Lucado Daily: Key to Spiritual Growth
The key to spiritual growth isn't increased church attendance or involvement in spiritual activities. People don't grow in Christ because they're busy at church. They grow in Christ when they read and trust their Bibles.
Desire some "Glory Days?" Engage with the Bible. Think and re-think God's Word. Let it be your guide. Set your sights on the unchanging principles of God. Let God's Word be the authoritative word in your world.
To begin, join me in our Scripture Memory Challenge. It's an adventure to hide God's Word deep in our hearts. This week let's memorize Joshua 1:9, God's promise of power. "Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go!"
Take the challenge at GloryDaysToday.com!
Psalm 139
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[b] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
20 They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Footnotes:
139:8 Hebrew to Sheol.
139:17 Or How precious to me are your thoughts.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Read: Habakkuk 1:1-11
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2 How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
but you do not come to save.
3 Must I forever see these evil deeds?
Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
who love to argue and fight.
4 The law has become paralyzed,
and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
so that justice has become perverted.
The Lord’s Reply
5 The Lord replied,
“Look around at the nations;
look and be amazed![a]
For I am doing something in your own day,
something you wouldn’t believe
even if someone told you about it.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[b]
a cruel and violent people.
They will march across the world
and conquer other lands.
7 They are notorious for their cruelty
and do whatever they like.
8 Their horses are swifter than cheetahs[c]
and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their charioteers charge from far away.
Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.
9 “On they come, all bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind,
sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
10 They scoff at kings and princes
and scorn all their fortresses.
They simply pile ramps of earth
against their walls and capture them!
11 They sweep past like the wind
and are gone.
But they are deeply guilty,
for their own strength is their god.”
Footnotes:
1:5 Greek version reads Look, you mockers; / look and be amazed and die. Compare Acts 13:41.
1:6 Or Chaldeans.
1:8 Or leopards.
INSIGHT:
The book of Habakkuk is a dialogue between the prophet Habakkuk and God. Ministering to the rebellious kingdom of Judah 120 years after Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, Habakkuk was perplexed as to why God had not punished Judah for her sin (1:2-4). God responded that He would use the Babylonians to punish Judah (vv. 5-11). Habakkuk was even more perplexed that a holy God would use an evil pagan nation to discipline His own people (1:12–2:1). He then learned that God would punish Babylon too (2:2-20). Habakkuk, praising God’s faithfulness (3:1-15), affirms his trust in God to do what is right (vv. 16-19). Sim Kay Tee
Doesn’t God Care?
By Poh Fang Chia
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8
Why does the intoxicated driver escape an accident unharmed while his sober victim is seriously injured? Why do bad people prosper while good people suffer? How often have you been so confused by things going on in your life that you have cried out, “Doesn’t God care?”
Habakkuk struggled with this same question as he saw the distressing situation in Judah where wickedness and injustice were running rampant (Hab. 1:1-4). His confusion drove him to ask God when He would act to fix the situation. God’s reply was nothing short of perplexing.
When we don’t understand God’s ways, we can #trust His unchanging character.
God said that He would use the Chaldeans as the means of Judah’s correction. The Chaldeans were notorious for their cruelty (v. 7). They were bent on violence (v. 9) and worshiped nothing but their military prowess and false gods (vv. 10-11).
In moments when we don’t understand God’s ways, we need to trust His unchanging character. That’s exactly what Habakkuk did. He believed that God is a God of justice, mercy, and truth (Ps. 89:14). In the process, he learned to look at his circumstances from the framework of God’s character instead of looking at God’s character from the context of his own circumstances. He concluded, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Hab. 3:19).
Lord, it is easy to let my circumstances change how I understand You. Help me to remember that You are good and faithful, even though I can’t see everything and may not understand how You are working.
Our situation may look very different from God’s point of view.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Is There Good in Temptation?
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man… —1 Corinthians 10:13
The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.
A person’s inner nature, what he possesses in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.
Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.
Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else— what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations— He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To read the Bible according to God’s providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it, viz., in the blood and passion of personal life. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 17, 2015
More Than A Launch - #7484
Some of the most exciting moments heard in the history of the U.S. space program were these: "3...2...1...Liftoff!" In the beginning, the Gemini and Apollo rockets, then later the space shuttles. You could see the blazing fire lifting that rocket and its' precious cargo off the pad and into the sky. A very impressive sight! But that wasn't all. You don't just say, "Great launch. Let's go home." No, no. All that fire and smoke isn't just to have a powerful experience. The purpose of it is to launch a mission, to make some things happen that would never otherwise happen without that launch.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "More Than A Launch."
One exciting trend among God's people today is a growth of praise and worship. Church services and conferences begin with extended times of praise and worship. These have often brought about deeper and more meaningful worship where we can feel the majesty, the presence of our God in a very real way. I've experienced that many times. They are powerful times-like the fire and smoke of that space launch. But also like a launch, it's not the end; it's not all there is. Worship is supposed to launch us into some things that would never otherwise happen.
In our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 6, this prophet experiences an incredible launching of his life's work. And in his experience, I believe God shows us three transactions that He wants us to have with Him each new day. It all begins with worship, but it doesn't end there.
Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple." And he describes these mighty angelic beings who were "calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke."
The first transaction in a powerful life is to see the awesomeness of your God. You spend time with Him early in each new day until you are overwhelmed by this holy God of yours who is totally in control of a hundred billion galaxies and everything in your life. This is worship where you get lost in your Lord until you can say with all your heart, "Lord, You are awesome!"
But praise and worship are incomplete unless they lead to the next transaction-to see the awfulness of your sin. Isaiah was possibly the most godly man in his nation, but here's what happens after He experiences the greatness of his God. He says, "Woe to me! I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King." With this confession, an angel comes with cleansing fire and says, "See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for."
True worship results in repentance. So you say, "Lord, you're awesome, but I'm a mess." When He points out the dark spot, you melt into repentance. And because He shed His blood to pay for that sin, Jesus comes, cleans you up for this new day and says, "Your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for."
But Isaiah's vision leads us to one last transaction with God. "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" See, God takes His man or woman from worship, to repentance, to rescuing the dying. You see the awesomeness of your God, then the awfulness of your sin, and then the lostness of the people around you. "I have seen the King, but I'm surrounded by people who haven't. And I've got to tell them about Him." And looking at the people in your world, you say, "Lord, they are dying and I'm going to them."
That's the complete worship experience. You leave your comfort zone to reach those who have never seen your Lord as you have, because that's the mission the launch is sending you on.
