Max Lucado Daily: LONG LISTS AND STINKY TRASH
Life has a way of unloading its rubbish on us. Your boss expects too much. Your kids whine too much. Trash. Load after load of anger; guilt; pessimism; bitterness; and anxiety. It all piles up! As a result, we must guard our thoughts. Today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions. Today’s jealousy is tomorrow’s hate crime. Could that be why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “Love keeps no record of wrongs”? Paul also says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we have a choice: “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.”
Selfishness, step back! Envy, get lost! Rather than store up the sour thoughts, store up the sweet ones. Make a list of God’s mercies; the many times he has blessed you…the many times he has forgiven you. And you will find your thoughts resulting in happy days.
From A Love Worth Giving
Acts 16:1
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
Footnotes:
Acts 16:12 The text and meaning of the Greek for the leading city of that district are uncertain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 19, 2016
Read: Habakkuk 3:16-19
I trembled inside when I heard this;
my lips quivered with fear.
My legs gave way beneath me,[a]
and I shook in terror.
I will wait quietly for the coming day
when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,[b]
able to tread upon the heights.
(For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)
Footnotes:
3:16 Hebrew Decay entered my bones.
3:19 Or He gives me the speed of a deer.
INSIGHT:
Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter three is the prophet’s response to a conversation he has been having with the Lord about justice—for Israel and the surrounding nations. After God responds to Habakkuk’s two complaints, the prophet launches into this song of praise for God’s righteous deeds and character. Habakkuk rehearses the great deeds of the Lord in protecting His people (vv. 1–15), but he also admits his fear when he sees the demonstration of God’s power and judgment (v. 16). But his fear does not control him, because God is his hope and strength (vv. 16–19).
The Voice of Faith
By Poh Fang Chia
Though the fig tree does not bud . . . yet I will rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk 3:17-18
The news was numbing. The tears came so quickly that she couldn’t fight them. Her mind raced with questions, and fear threatened to overwhelm her. Life had been going along so well, when it was abruptly interrupted and forever changed without warning.
Tragedy can come in many forms—the loss of a loved one, an illness, the loss of wealth or our livelihood. And it can happen to anyone at any time.
Our God who has proven Himself faithful throughout the years is always with us.
Although the prophet Habakkuk knew that tragedy was coming, it still struck fear in his heart. As he waited for the day when Babylon would invade the kingdom of Judah, his heart pounded, his lips quivered, and his legs trembled (Hab. 3:16).
Fear is a legitimate emotion in the face of tragedy, but it doesn’t have to immobilize us. When we don’t understand the trials we are going through, we can recount how God has worked in history (vv. 3-15). That’s what Habakkuk did. It didn’t dispel his fear, but it gave him the courage to move on by choosing to praise the Lord (v. 18).
Our God who has proven Himself faithful throughout the years is always with us. Because His character doesn’t change, in our fear we can say with a confident voice of faith, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength!” (v. 19).
Dear Lord, when my world is turned upside down, help me to trust You. You have always been faithful to me.
We can learn the lesson of trust in the school of trial.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 19, 2016
Taking the Initiative Against Drudgery
Arise, shine… —Isaiah 60:1
When it comes to taking the initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us— He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue— a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed.
Drudgery is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery— washing fishermen’s feet. He then says to them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer’s body has become “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly. Disciples Indeed, 393 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 19, 2016
The Reason For the Test - #7595
When I was young, I hate to say it, so was television. Prehistoric guy you know! One of my television heroes was a space explorer called Captain Video. I wish I still had his decoder ring.
The day they took me to that children's hospital for those tests, they tried to pull a Captain Video scam on me. See, I'd been born with a heart murmur, so I was in the hospital to have a series of what was then state of the art tests to see how my heart was doing.
I remember they gave me this foul tasting liquid to drink. It was probably something they could trace as it moved through my system – if I could swallow it that is. The next thing I knew, I'm in a dark room, looking up at this guy with a white coat and goggles. He told me he was Captain Video. I don't think so! Captain Video would never make me drink something this gross! All I know is they really put me through it that day. I'm sure the question I had was "Why?" Well, there was a very good answer. And thank God that heart murmur disappeared when I was a kid.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Reason For the Test."
Now has that question crossed your mind lately? God, why are you putting me through this? Why are you doing this to me? Maybe you've been through some really hard things lately, and they're hard to understand. It could be that your family, or your ministry, or your church have been facing some painful trials and you feel like I did on that stressful day in the children's hospital. What's going on here? I imagine God's ancient people were asking that same thing as God took them through a harsh and hostile desert.
He answers the question "why" in our word for today from the Word of God. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 says, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known."
Now, God says He takes you through the desert first to humble you; to bring you to a place where your resources are useless. A place where your Lord is all you've got left to depend on. It could be that your loving Lord brought you into the desert to get you out of the way so He could be totally depended upon. So you can then experience His incredible power in ways you never dreamed of when you were still in control.
But let's focus on that second reason. He says, "I bring you through the desert to test you in order to know what was in your heart." That's why Captain Video and my parents and all those other people were putting me through my hospital ordeal. The test would show what was going on in my heart. The good times don't show what's really inside of you. It's pressure that does that, it's pain, it's temptation, it's unanswered questions, unexplained problems. That's what exposes what's in your heart. The desert, the testing time, exposes what our real motives are, exposes our deep down resentments, our messed up priorities, our counterfeit faith, our unrepented sin, and our neglected relationship with our God.
What the test shows could scare us, but it brings us to the place where we are finally humble and we're ready for Jesus to perform the spiritual surgery we have avoided way too long. The test can also show a healthy heart, by the way; one that trusts God even when He's silent, that puts other people first even when it's hurting, that testifies to all who will listen about the awesome grace of God, even in...especially in the desert times.
Yes, you may be wondering what I was wondering that day of testing. Why are you putting me through this? Well, there was for me then, and there is for you now a very good reason. Because it's the best way to show what your heart is really like.
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