Max Lucado Daily: Consult God in Everything
How bold are your prayers? Boldness in prayer is an uncomfortable thought for many. We think of humbling ourselves before God or having a chat with God. But agonizing before God…or storming heaven with our prayers…or pounding on the door of the Most High…or wrestling with God? Isn't such prayer irreverent and presumptuous? It would be had God not invited us to pray as such.
The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 4:16, "So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need." Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that "Satan masquerades himself as an angel of light." He's crafty, so it is essential that we consult God in everything! Is this opportunity from you, God? Are you in this venture, God? Acknowledge Him, heed Him, and ask Him. He will guide you.
From Glory Days
Proverbs 30
The Sayings of Agur
The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh contain this message.[a]
I am weary, O God;
I am weary and worn out, O God.[b]
2 I am too stupid to be human,
and I lack common sense.
3 I have not mastered human wisdom,
nor do I know the Holy One.
4 Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down?
Who holds the wind in his fists?
Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak?
Who has created the whole wide world?
What is his name—and his son’s name?
Tell me if you know!
5 Every word of God proves true.
He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
6 Do not add to his words,
or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar.
7 O God, I beg two favors from you;
let me have them before I die.
8 First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.
10 Never slander a worker to the employer,
or the person will curse you, and you will pay for it.
11 Some people curse their father
and do not thank their mother.
12 They are pure in their own eyes,
but they are filthy and unwashed.
13 They look proudly around,
casting disdainful glances.
14 They have teeth like swords
and fangs like knives.
They devour the poor from the earth
and the needy from among humanity.
15 The leech has two suckers
that cry out, “More, more!”[c]
There are three things that are never satisfied—
no, four that never say, “Enough!”:
16 the grave,[d]
the barren womb,
the thirsty desert,
the blazing fire.
17 The eye that mocks a father
and despises a mother’s instructions
will be plucked out by ravens of the valley
and eaten by vultures.
18 There are three things that amaze me—
no, four things that I don’t understand:
19 how an eagle glides through the sky,
how a snake slithers on a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
how a man loves a woman.
20 An adulterous woman consumes a man,
then wipes her mouth and says, “What’s wrong with that?”
21 There are three things that make the earth tremble—
no, four it cannot endure:
22 a slave who becomes a king,
an overbearing fool who prospers,
23 a bitter woman who finally gets a husband,
a servant girl who supplants her mistress.
24 There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise:
25 Ants—they aren’t strong,
but they store up food all summer.
26 Hyraxes[e]—they aren’t powerful,
but they make their homes among the rocks.
27 Locusts—they have no king,
but they march in formation.
28 Lizards—they are easy to catch,
but they are found even in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things that walk with stately stride—
no, four that strut about:
30 the lion, king of animals, who won’t turn aside for anything,
31 the strutting rooster,
the male goat,
a king as he leads his army.
32 If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil,
cover your mouth in shame.
33 As the beating of cream yields butter
and striking the nose causes bleeding,
so stirring up anger causes quarrels.
Footnotes:
30:1a Or son of Jakeh from Massa; or son of Jakeh, an oracle.
30:1b The Hebrew can also be translated The man declares this to Ithiel, / to Ithiel and to Ucal.
30:15 Hebrew two daughters who cry out, “Give, give!”
30:16 Hebrew Sheol.
30:26 Or Coneys, or Rock badgers.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 09, 2015
Read: Psalm 107:23–32
Some went off to sea in ships,
plying the trade routes of the world.
24 They, too, observed the Lord’s power in action,
his impressive works on the deepest seas.
25 He spoke, and the winds rose,
stirring up the waves.
26 Their ships were tossed to the heavens
and plunged again to the depths;
the sailors cringed in terror.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards
and were at their wits’ end.
28 “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
29 He calmed the storm to a whisper
and stilled the waves.
30 What a blessing was that stillness
as he brought them safely into harbor!
31 Let them praise the Lord for his great love
and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
32 Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation
and before the leaders of the nation.
INSIGHT:
Today’s psalm reminds us that God can indeed guide us to safe havens in the midst of life’s storms and trials. However, this psalm also reminds us that the same God who calms the storm and points the way to our “desired haven” (v. 30) is the God who sometimes stirs up the oceans in our lives. It is God who “stirred up a tempest” (v. 25) that caused the sailors to melt with fear and reel and stagger (vv. 26,27). Then “they cried out to the Lord . . . and he brought them out of their distress” (v. 28). The God who stirs the seas wants us to turn to Him for help. J.R. Hudberg
Charity Island
By Dennis Fisher
The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.
Nahum 1:7
Charity Island is the largest island in Saginaw Bay in the Michigan waters of Lake Huron. For many years the island has provided a lighthouse for navigational aid and a safe harbor for those sailing these waters. The island received its name because sailors believed it was there “through the charity of God.”
Sometimes in life we have to navigate through seas of troubling circumstances. Like those sailors we need guidance and a place of safety; we might wish for our own Charity Island. The psalmist understood that God is the one who can bring tranquility to troubled waters and guide us to safe harbors. He wrote, “He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven” (Ps. 107:29-30).
While no one asks for the storms of life, they can multiply our appreciation for the guidance and refuge God provides. He offers the light of His Spirit and His Word to guide us. It is the safe harbor of His love that we long for. He alone can be our ultimate “Charity Island.”
Father, help me to seek Your light to guide me through the storms of life.
Share your story of how the Lord has been your light in the comments section below.
The living God will always be our shelter.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 09, 2015
Sacred Service
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ… —Colossians 1:24
The Christian worker has to be a sacred “go-between.” He must be so closely identified with his Lord and the reality of His redemption that Christ can continually bring His creating life through him. I am not referring to the strength of one individual’s personality being superimposed on another, but the real presence of Christ coming through every aspect of the worker’s life. When we preach the historical facts of the life and death of our Lord as they are conveyed in the New Testament, our words are made sacred. God uses these words, on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He alone can do.
When we say, “What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what wonderful insight!” then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 09, 2015
The Story You Must Tell - #7521
It was shocking and it came on the day my Dad went to heaven. I flew in; I couldn't make it back in time before he took his last breath. But we'd had some great conversations before he died. And that was the day that my Mother made an announcement. She said, "You have a brother." What? Yeah, here I'm a grown man with children of my own. Now, I knew I'd had a baby brother who died when he was six months old, and that's how all of us came to know Jesus as a result of the tragedy that went into our family through that. But that was the day I learned about a brother I never knew about for all those years. Now, there's some complicated circumstances that would explain why I didn't know. But the fact is, my Dad and my Mom had never told me about this brother by another mother. Since then I've had a chance to meet the brother I never knew about, and wow, what a blessing and it's so enriched both of our lives, along with our wives as well. But it was a story I'd never heard. It was a story I wish I'd heard. It was a story that changed my life. But it was a story that I almost never heard.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Story You Must Tell."
You have a story! You have a story to tell that literally lives depend on; that can change lives forever. But you can't sit on it! Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 28. What an exciting chapter! This is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The angel has just appeared to these crest-fallen women who think the body of their Savior was stolen. He said, "He is not here; he has risen!" Now listen to these words, "Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead…' So, the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples."
Now, what good is a story, especially if it's good news and you don't tell it? Well, this is the good news about a death-conquering, life-changing Savior who crushed death that morning. The greatest fear we all have. The story you've got to tell is the story you probably know so well if you've been around Christian things very long.
You know about Jesus dying on the cross to carry the wrath of God upon Him for all of our sin, to set us free, to make it possible for us to be free and clean and forgiven and heaven-bound. And He's powerful enough to walk out of His grave under His own power. Here's the greatest love a person can experience; a love that would die for you. The greatest power a person can experience; a power that can conquer death. Wow! Don't you want to tell that story to someone? You know it; they don't.
We're living in a post Christian world; people around us probably aren't going to go to a religious meeting to hear a religious speaker talk on a religious subject in a religious place. They may be surrounded by Christian resources, and TV and radio, etc. But they don't know about all that. They have yet to find out that what Jesus did on the cross was for them. The only way they're going to know that is if you tell them the story you know so well.
They desperately need to hear about that. They desperately need to hear about a Jesus who is alive, who changes people, who does things that no one else can do and saves lives. It may be old hat to you about the sin and Christ dying for sin. But it's life-saving news for somebody that you know. The words of the angel on that resurrection morning were, "You've come and seen. Now, go and tell." That's Jesus' command to you. You must go and tell.
And you have a Hope Story. You are living proof that Jesus is alive, because He has done things in your life that no one else could have done. He has fixed what no one else could fix. He is changing what no one else could change. He is providing hope where nothing else could. You have a Hope Story, and that story of what Jesus did on the cross and how Jesus has changed you may be the difference between life and death and heaven and hell for somebody in your world.
Would you tell them the story you know? Give them the good news! You have a life-changing story to tell. But what good is a story if you don't tell it?