Max Lucado Daily: THE FUTURE IS NOW
Something is awry—we feel disconnected. What we hope will bring life brings only limited amounts. We connect with a career and find meaning in family, yet long for something more. First a job, then a promotion. A wedding day, then a nursery…kids…grandkids. Around and around—is there anything else?
Jesus steps forth with a reconnection invitation in Ephesians 2:5, that though we be dead in our transgression and sins, and separated from the life of God, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Reborn! He breathes life into flat-lined lives. Others offer life, but no one offers to do what Jesus does—to reconnect us to—life!
1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life. . .everything to live for, including a future in heaven.” And the future starts right now!
From 3:16
Psalm 134
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
1 Oh, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
you who serve at night in the house of the Lord.
2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary,
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, who made heaven and earth,
bless you from Jerusalem.[a]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Read: Romans 15:1-6
Living to Please Others
We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.”[a] 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Footnotes:
15:3 Greek who insult you have fallen on me. Ps 69:9.
INSIGHT:
One of the great truths of Scripture is that it is timeless. All of the stories and instructions of the past were written for our benefit. While this applies to all of the Old Testament, here in Romans it specifically applies to the example of Christ’s life. Verse four of today’s text tells us that what was written about Christ was written to teach us. J.R. Hudberg
Meant to Be Understood
By Bill Crowder
Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. Romans 15:4
I enjoy visiting museums such as the National Gallery in London and the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. While most of the art is breathtaking, some of it confuses me. I look at seemingly random splashes of color on canvas and realize I have no idea what I am seeing—even though the artist is a master at his craft.
Sometimes we can feel the same way about the Scriptures. We wonder, Is it even possible to understand them? Where do I start? Perhaps Paul’s words can give us some help: “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).
God has given us the Scriptures for our instruction and encouragement.
God has given us the Scriptures for our instruction and encouragement. He has also given us His Spirit to help us to know His mind. Jesus said that He was sending the Spirit to “guide [us] into all the truth” (John 16:13). Paul affirms this in 1 Corinthians 2:12, saying, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”
With the help of the Spirit, we can approach the Bible with confidence, knowing that through its pages God wants us to know Him and His ways.
Father, thank You for giving us Your Son to bring us into relationship with You. Thank You for giving us the Scriptures so that we can know You better. And thank You for giving us Your Spirit to guide us into the truth of what we need to know about You and Your great love.
Read the Bible to get to know its Author.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
The Supreme Climb
Take now your son…and offer him…as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. —Genesis 22:2
A person’s character determines how he interprets God’s will (see Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs which must be removed– for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much. That is the devil’s lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, he will do so. But if we will stay true to God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself.
The great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience. Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was actually the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself. But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don’t ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even “to go …both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement— he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
How to Keep Your Fire Burning - #7642
The driver pulled up and dumped it in my driveway, but I was very happy to see it. It was my cord of wood; a winter of warm fires in our fireplace! See, we had ordered it during a special sale, which others apparently took advantage of big time. The driver told me some people had ordered five cords of wood. When I asked why, he said, "It's for their wood stoves. They're depending on it to keep their house warm this winter!" Well, no wonder they ordered a lot of wood for the winter. And when they run out of fuel, they run out of fire. When they run out of fire, it gets very cold.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Keep Your Fire Burning."
For somebody listening right now it's winter spiritually – maybe for you. What used to be a warm and passionate relationship with Jesus has turned cold, mechanical, and practiced. Your fire for the Lord and for His work is burning pretty low, or maybe there are just the embers of a fire that once blazed high. The problem isn't the fire; the problem is a shortage of fuel.
See, spiritual fire is like those fires in people's stoves or fireplaces: you've got to keep throwing another log on the fire. You can't just get it burning high and then expect it to stay that way indefinitely. Jesus obviously knew what to do to keep the fire going. He knew where the fuel was.
He demonstrates that in our word for today from the Word of God, beginning in Luke 4:40. "When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them...He rebuked demons and would not allow them to speak. At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him and when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.' And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea."
Now after a very full day and a very late night, Jesus gets up early to go to the spiritual woodpile – time with His Heavenly Father. He went for that spiritual fuel regularly. In Luke 6:12, we are told that "Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." At another point, Luke tells us "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Notice in Luke 6 that Jesus comes back from His Father-time refueled for His work and refocused on what His work is supposed to be.
Now if the fire is burning low in your heart right now, it could very well be that you aren't spending the heart-to-heart time with God that you once did. That's where you find the logs to rekindle your fire because the flame of serving Christ has to be a deep love relationship with Him. It isn't all about Bible study, or church or theology or ministry or living the Christian life. It's all about Jesus! And the pressure and the stress of each crazy day make it so easy to forget that it's all about Jesus, it's all from Jesus, it's all for Jesus.
It could be that your time with Him has gotten more and more abbreviated, postponed or even canceled. You've got to get back to what fueled your fire in the first place – belonging to Jesus, being with Jesus, loving Jesus. Without that regular time, that sweet relationship is replaced with a stressful rat race.
When Jesus had Father-time, He came away knowing He couldn't just stay with the people who had already experienced Him. He had to move on to the unreached. So do you and I. Making your Father-time the anchor of your daily schedule will not only fuel your fire for the Lord, but for the lost people He died to rescue. And you'll feel again the excitement of joining Him in His eternal rescue mission.
Those who depend on a fire make sure that they have plenty of fuel and that they add logs to their fire regularly. For us to live as we were created to live, we need a blazing spiritual fire in our heart. So make sure your fuel supply is strong and consistent. Christian living and Christian service are all about Jesus! Staying in heart-to-heart contact with Him will give you all the logs you need for a fire that never goes out!
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