Max Lucado Daily: Touch the World
Where will God go to touch the world? What a great thought and an even better question! It’s that time of year when we hear about the virgin birth. And yet it’s much, much more than a Christmas story. It is a story of how close Christ will come to you!
The first stop on his itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep within Mary for an answer. Better still—look deep within yourself. Christ in you, the hope of glory! Christ grew in Mary until he had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, and in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Bethlehem. And every day you live will be a Christmas. Deliver Christ into the world!
From Grace for the Moment
Ecclesiastes 7
Wisdom for Life
A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume.
And the day you die is better than the day you are born.
2 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties.
After all, everyone dies—
so the living should take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
for sadness has a refining influence on us.
4 A wise person thinks a lot about death,
while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
5 Better to be criticized by a wise person
than to be praised by a fool.
6 A fool’s laughter is quickly gone,
like thorns crackling in a fire.
This also is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns wise people into fools,
and bribes corrupt the heart.
8 Finishing is better than starting.
Patience is better than pride.
9 Control your temper,
for anger labels you a fool.
10 Don’t long for “the good old days.”
This is not wise.
11 Wisdom is even better when you have money.
Both are a benefit as you go through life.
12 Wisdom and money can get you almost anything,
but only wisdom can save your life.
13 Accept the way God does things,
for who can straighten what he has made crooked?
14 Enjoy prosperity while you can,
but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.
Remember that nothing is certain in this life.
The Limits of Human Wisdom
15 I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people. 16 So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? 17 On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time? 18 Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.[a]
19 One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!
20 Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.
21 Don’t eavesdrop on others—you may hear your servant curse you. 22 For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.
23 I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work. 24 Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find. 25 I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.
26 I discovered that a seductive woman[b] is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.
27 “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle. 28 Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman! 29 But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”
Footnotes:
7:18 Or will follow them both.
7:26 Hebrew a woman.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
Read: Ephesians 1:1-10
Greetings from Paul
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus,[a] who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Spiritual Blessings
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.[b] 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
Footnotes:
1:1 The most ancient manuscripts do not include in Ephesus.
1:6 Greek to us in the beloved.
INSIGHT:
The city of Ephesus was “the capital of . . . the western part of Asia Minor. It was colonized principally from Athens. In the time of the Romans it bore the title of ‘the first and greatest metropolis of Asia.’ It was distinguished for the Temple of Diana, who there had her chief shrine; and for its theatre, which was the largest in the world, capable of containing 50,000 spectators. It was, like all ancient theatres, open to the sky. Here were exhibited the fights of wild beasts and of men with beasts (1 Cor. 4:9; 9:24, 25; 15:32). Many Jews took up their residence in this city, and here the seeds of the gospel were sown immediately after Pentecost (Acts 2:9; 6:9).”
Just the Ticket
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
In him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. Ephesians 1:7
When a police officer stopped a woman because her young daughter was riding in a car without the required booster seat, he could have written her a ticket for a traffic violation. Instead, he asked the mother and daughter to meet him at a nearby store where he personally paid for the needed car seat. The mother was going through a difficult time and could not afford to buy a seat.
Although the woman should have received a fine for her misdemeanor, she walked away with a gift instead. Anyone who knows Christ has experienced something similar. All of us deserve a penalty for breaking God’s laws (Eccl. 7:20). Yet, because of Jesus, we experience undeserved favor from God. This favor excuses us from the ultimate consequence for our sin, which is death and eternal separation from God (Rom. 6:23). “In [Jesus] we have . . . the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Eph. 1:7).
Never stop thanking God for His amazing grace.
Some refer to grace as “love in action.” When the young mother experienced this, she later remarked, “I will be forever grateful! . . . And as soon as I can afford it I will be paying it forward.” This grateful and big-hearted response to the officer’s gift is an inspiring example for those of us who have received the gift of God’s grace!
Dear Father, thank You for giving us what we don’t deserve. You have forgiven my sins and provided a way for me to be reconciled to You through the gift of Your Son. Help me to always be grateful for Your grace.
God’s gift is grace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
The Opposition of the Natural
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —Galatians 5:24
The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.
The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
The Highest Title On Earth - #7543
There have been a number of movies and television shows about angels taking human form."Touched By An Angel" was a television series that ran for nine seasons. You can still find it in "re-run." I remember this particular episode (for some reason, it really stuck with me) where a young angel was kneeling at the feet of a man who I think had been a homeless guy. I think maybe he had been in prison, and he just was pretty unkempt. Didn't look like much of a match for an angel. But the angel had this basin of water, and the man was telling her not to do what she was about to do. The angel was about to wash this old guy's feet. But she looked at him with tears in her eyes and she gave an answer that came from deep in her heart. She said, "I have to do this so I remember who I am." That stuck.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Highest Title On Earth."
Our Word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 20:25. The disciples are having some problems because they all want to be the top dog on Jesus' team. The Bible says, "Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you'" - now imagine them holding their breath, "Yeah, yeah, what is it?" - "'must be your servant." You can imagine their heads suddenly at half mast. "Whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many."
Jesus totally inverts our human idea of which position is really important. He told His disciples – and all of us His followers – to go for the highest title on earth; the one He chose, the one He lived: "servant." Though the "Touched by an Angel" episode is obviously fiction, the angel in it was thinking like Jesus. Although she had all the powers of an angel and had messages directly from God, she didn't want to forget who she really was – a servant, a foot-washer, someone who is here to pour out her life in the service of others, not herself. Well, that's my calling and it's your calling. And that is Gospel fact, not fiction. When we sacrifice our own comfort, our own needs, and our own pride for others, we are remembering who we are.
It's easy to forget that. Especially when your life is so full and so you become really self-focused just to get it all done, or to get your needs met. Maybe you've developed a case of creeping self-importance recently. Strangely enough, when God starts using us, we tend to forget we are servants. We begin to think we're stars or heroes or someone who's above the dirty work, the little jobs, the needs of one person who has nothing really to contribute to us.
Maybe we start to almost feel like a privileged character; entitled to some things. At that point, we have left the blueprint of Jesus. For even though He was the mighty Son of God, His agenda was not to have others serve Him but to totally serve others to the point of dying for us. What's your agenda? Is it you? Or is it them?
No matter what positions you hold, no matter what recognition you receive, no matter who you are or what you do, it never changes your real title. The one Jesus gave you. The one Jesus lived – servant of all. There are some feet to be washed. There's some dirty work to do. There are unnoticed acts of kindness to be done and there's a lot of unlovable people to love. Look for those assignments, because they'll help you remember who you really are.