Max Lucado Daily: Remember Whose You Are
What's the secret to survival in enemy territory? Remember what God has done! Record his accomplishments in your memoirs. Don't forget a single blessing. Create a trophy room in your heart. Each time you experience a victory, place a memory on the shelf. Before you face a challenge, take a quick tour of God's accomplishments.
John 1:12 says, "Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."
Live out your inheritance! You are loved, redeemed and filled with the Holy Spirit. You have the power of God in you to fight any battle you face.
The secret of survival in enemy territory? Remember what God has done. And remember whose you are! John 1:12-make it a verse to memorize this week. Let's do it together at GloryDaysToday.com
John 19:1-22
Jesus Sentenced to Death
19 Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2 The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 3 “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.
4 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”
6 When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”
7 The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 9 He took Jesus back into the headquarters[a] again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. 10 “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”
11 Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’[b] Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”
13 When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). 14 It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people,[c] “Look, here is your king!”
15 “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”
“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.
16 Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
So they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18 There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth,[d] the King of the Jews.” 20 The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.
21 Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”
Footnotes:
19:9 Greek the Praetorium.
19:12 “Friend of Caesar” is a technical term that refers to an ally of the emperor.
19:14 Greek Jewish people; also in 19:20.
19:19 Or Jesus the Nazarene.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Read: 1 John 5:10-15
All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.
11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
Conclusion
13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.
INSIGHT:
The Bible Knowledge Commentary says of John’s first epistle: “The letter contains no hint about the identity or location of the readers [to whom the letter was sent] beyond the fact that they are Christians. Since early church tradition associates John with the Roman province of Asia (in western Turkey), it has often been thought that the readers lived there. . . . [They] had been confronted with false teachers, whom John called antichrists (1 John 2:18–26). The exact character of these false teachers has been much discussed. Many have thought they were Gnostics who held to a strict dualism in which spiritual and material things were sharply distinguished.” Bill Crowder
We Can Know
By Lawrence Darmani
I write these things to you . . . that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13
As I sat on a train headed for an important appointment, I began to wonder if I was on the right train. I had never traveled that route before and had failed to ask for help. Finally, overcome by uncertainty and doubt, I exited at the next station—only to be told I had indeed been on the right train!
That incident reminded me how doubt can rob us of peace and confidence. At one time I had struggled with the assurance of my salvation, but God helped me deal with my doubt. Later, after sharing the story of my conversion and my assurance that I was going to heaven, someone asked, “How can you be sure you are saved and going to heaven?” I confidently but humbly pointed to the verse that God had used to help me: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
God promises that through faith in His Son, Jesus, we already have eternal life: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (v. 11). This assurance sharpens our faith, lifts us up when we are downhearted, and gives us courage in times of doubt.
Dear Lord, during my times of doubt help me remember the promise of Your Word. Since I have invited Jesus into my life and placed my faith in His payment for my sins, You have promised me eternal life with You.
Recalling God’s promises destroys doubt.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 01, 2015
The Place of Exaltation
…Jesus took…them up on a high mountain apart by themselves… —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 01, 2015
The Trouble With Christians - #7494
Boom! Suddenly all the lights went out in the conference center where we were staying, just as we were all making our way out of our rooms and down this long hallway to breakfast. No windows. The hallway was longer than usual that morning because it was totally dark. Turns out the entire region experienced a power failure that morning. Because a squirrel got into a relay station and gnawed through a cable. That's fried squirrel and lights out.
The problem that day really wasn't the darkness. Darkness is always dark, right? The problem was the failure of the light. A lot of us Christians have been lamenting what we perceive as the growing spiritual darkness around us: Fewer people identifying themselves as Christians, more people identifying themselves as nonbelievers, long-time moral boundaries that are eroding or collapsing.
When it's dark, the problem isn't the darkness. It's the failure of the light. And Jesus said to His followers, "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). It appears something's wrong with the light.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Trouble With Christians."
I can think of two ways that we're failing our world and our Lord. One has to do with a flawed message that obscures the true Message. That part's for tomorrow, but here are three reasons why I think the light is so often obscured.
First, flawed messengers. Over and over, a watching world sees well-known Christians suddenly disgraced by a dark secret. You can probably think of some pastors, mega church "stars," TV personalities, athletes, politicians. And folks who don't like the message can now find another "hypocrite" to hide behind.
The sad fall of a prominent Christian is a teachable moment, underscoring three critical realities.
First, each Jesus-follower's life is either a reason for someone to check out Jesus or rule out Jesus. If I drift away from Him, I take watching unbelievers with me. That's why Paul said in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 9:12, "We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ." And Peter said, "Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then, if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God" (1 Peter 2:12). So, my little "sin fling" or spiritual detour will cost me God's blessing. It could cost those watching me their eternity.
Then secondly, every time a public Christian is discredited, the importance of the everyday Christian is elevated. The Christian who is in a seeker's life every day has far more impact than any Christian in the spotlight. I am the face, the voice, the proof of Jesus to the unbelievers in my personal world for better or for worse. It's always important that I walk the talk. It's exponentially important that I'm consistent when there's been a public Christian disgrace. When they see me, they've got to be able to see Jesus all day every day.
Here's one other very vital reality. The failure of the messenger does not change the truth of the message. Jesus said, "Follow Me." Not follow My followers. He said, "I am the Way" (John 14:6). Not, "I will show you the way." He told us, "I am the resurrection and the life...he who believes in Me will live, even though he dies" (John 11:25). Not, believe in someone who practices the Christian religion. No, He said, "Believe in Me. Follow Me."
Jesus made it all about Jesus. So while a hypocrite might provide an excuse for not believing, they don't provide a valid reason. Because it's what we do with Jesus that determines our eternity. In fact, that's the question you will face when you see God. "What did you do with My Son who died on a cross for you?"
If you've never taken Him for you to be your Savior from your sin, this would be the day to do that. If you want to begin your relationship with Jesus, we would love to be back in touch with you. You can text us at 442-244-WORD or go to our website ANewStory.com.
You know, in the end, it isn't about Christians. It isn't about Christianity. It's all about Jesus. That's such good news! Because He's the Man who loved me enough to die for me; who's powerful enough to walk out of His grave. He's the unfailing Light.