Max Lucado Daily: Click the Save Button
Do the teachings of the Bible change us? There's only one way to find out. Click the "Save" button! What great satisfaction occurs when having created a document, we reach up and press the Save button. It earns its name. We curse the little monster as it gobbles up our hard work. But once we save it, it is safe.
Are you clicking the button on Scripture? We save truth when we deliberately and consciously allow what we've heard to become part of who we are. In John 8:32 Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Free from guilt; free from anger; and free from fear.
Allow the truth of Scripture to be the authority in your life. Make it your goal to memorize it, to press the Save button. Join me at GloryDaysToday.com-let's memorize Scripture together!
Proverbs 7
Warning Against the Adulterous Woman
My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.
6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.
8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight, as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.
10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
11 (She is unruly and defiant,
her feet never stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.)
13 She took hold of him and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:
14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[c] stepping into a noose[d]
23 till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.
24 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to what I say.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray into her paths.
26 Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death.
Footnotes:
Proverbs 7:22 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew fool
Proverbs 7:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 08, 2015
Read: 1 Peter 2:13-25
Respecting People in Authority
13 For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.
15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love the family of believers.[a] Fear God, and respect the king.
Slaves
18 You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect.[b] Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. 19 For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.
21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered[c] for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
22 He never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.[d]
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.
Footnotes:
2:17 Greek love the brotherhood.
2:18 Or because you fear God; Greek reads in all fear.
2:21 Some manuscripts read died.
2:22 Isa 53:9.
INSIGHT:
To “follow in [Christ’s] steps” means we are called to pursue a walk of purity and honesty (vv. 21-22), a walk that is not vengeful or vindictive (v. 23), and a walk of deep trust in God the Father (v. 23). This is not only an example of how to build personal relationships, but it’s also the essence of the gospel of grace—God’s favor to those who do not deserve it. Bill Crowder
Reckless Words
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate. 1 Peter 2:23
I had been driving for almost half an hour when my daughter suddenly wailed from the backseat. When I asked, “What happened?” she said her brother had grabbed her arm. He claimed he had grabbed her arm because she had pinched him. She said she pinched him because he had said something mean.
Unfortunately, this pattern, which is common between children, can show up in adult relationships too. One person offends another, and the hurt person shoots back a verbal blow. The original offender retaliates with another insult. Before long, anger and cruel words have damaged the relationship.
When we trust the Lord, we don't need to use words as weapons.
The Bible says that “the words of the reckless pierce like swords,” and that “a harsh word stirs up anger” but “a gentle answer turns away wrath” (Prov. 12:18; 15:1). And sometimes not answering at all is the best way to deal with mean or cruel words or comments.
Before Jesus’ crucifixion, the religious authorities tried to provoke Him with their words (Matt. 27:41-43). Yet, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate . . . . Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).
Jesus’ example and the Spirit’s help offer us a way to respond to people who offend us. Trusting the Lord, we don’t need to use words as weapons.
Dear God, please give me self-control through Your Holy Spirit when I am tempted to retaliate with words.
A soft answer has often been the means of breaking a hard heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 08, 2015
Coming to Jesus
Come to Me… —Matthew 11:28
Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— “Come to Me….” In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, “Just as I am, I come.” As long as you have even the least bit of spiritual disrespect, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do something very big, and yet all He is telling you to do is to “Come….”
“Come to Me….” When you hear those words, you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, and it will involve anything that will uproot whatever is preventing you from getting through to Jesus. And you will never get any further until you are willing to do that very thing. The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him do so.
How often have you come to God with your requests and gone away thinking, “I’ve really received what I wanted this time!” And yet you go away with nothing, while all the time God has stood with His hands outstretched not only to take you but also for you to take Him. Just think of the invincible, unconquerable, and untiring patience of Jesus, who lovingly says, “Come to Me….”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 08, 2015
Transformer Trouble - #7499
I was in mid-shave one morning, all lathered up, attacking my whiskers with my razor and I heard a little "bang" down the street, and the power went out. Now fortunately I was still able to find my face in the dark; it's about where it always was. But I knew the rest of the morning was going to be very interesting. See, it wasn't just a circuit breaker. No, no, the power was out on the whole block. Well, we won't be having a toasted bagel today! No hair dryer for my wife, no lamp to read my Bible by. Why? That grey cylinder that hangs on that telephone pole down the street. We had no power because the transformer had blown!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Transformer Trouble."
I remember the day after a hurricane when I saw electric wires on the ground. They were arcing all over the place with power spitting out. Now, the problem with that morning when my face was half shaved is that there wasn't any power. Oh, it was still up there in those wires. Yeah, the power was there, and our needs were still down here, and the lights and the appliances were there, but the transformer that brought all the power to our need wasn't there. That's what happened in Jesus' home town in our word for today from the Word of God.
Matthew 13:54, "Coming to His home town, Jesus began teaching the people in their synagogue and they were amazed 'Where did this man get his wisdom and these miraculous powers?' they asked, 'Isn't this the carpenters son? Isn't his mother's name Mary and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters here with us? Where, then, did this man get all these things?' And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, 'Only in His home town, and in his own house is a prophet without honor.' And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith."
Well, the miracle power sure was there. He'd healed and changed so many lives in many other places and those same needs were there in Nazareth. But one thing made the difference between the places where Jesus' power did make a difference and the place where He did very little. Faith, or the absence of it; total trust in Jesus as the miracle maker, the mountain mover.
See, faith is the transformer that connects all the voltage of heaven to the situation or the need in front of you. Wouldn't it be sad if it was said of you, or your family, or your ministry, or your business, "He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." You're not expecting any. You're not believing that Jesus is going to do something powerful, so He won't.
The most unsettling thing about this power failure in Nazareth is that these are the people who knew Jesus best. Well, that's us Bible believing Christians today. The people who know Jesus best may be the people who believe Jesus for the least. Familiarity can breed lazy, limited faith. We put God in a box and this is how He always works, and He's surely going to work within those limits right now, right?
Well, this account seems to tell us that our faith determines the size of the box in which God will work. If we draw a small box within which we ask Him and believe He'll work, He apparently will stay in that box. But He promised in Ephesians 3:20 "to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine."
Now maybe you're facing some situations right now where you really need the full power of the Lord Jesus working for you. But honestly things have seemed pretty powerless recently. The power is there, the current of God flows undiminished. The need is there, but the power isn't connecting with the need. Sounds like there's trouble in the transformer. Your faith in what your Savior can do, that's what's missing.
Well, let this be the day when you open yourself up to something bolder and bigger. It might be what you ask Him for, or He may give you something equally miraculous that He knows is better than you ask for. But one way or another, the transformer of faith will bring down the voltage of heaven to light your life.