Max Lucado Daily: You Can Count on Him
I was seven years old. I’d had enough of my father’s rules and decided I could make it on my own, thank you very much. I got to the end of the alley and remembered I was hungry, so I went back home! Did Dad know of my insurrection? I suspect he did. Was I still his son? Apparently so. No one else was sitting in my place at the table.
Suppose someone had asked my father, “Mr. Lucado, your son says he has no need of a father. Do you still consider him your son?” What do you think my dad would have said? He considered himself my father even when I didn’t consider myself his son. His commitment to me was greater than my commitment to him. So is God’s. I can count on him to be in my corner no matter what! And you can too!
From Max on Life
2 Kings 1
Elijah Confronts King Ahaziah
After King Ahab’s death, the land of Moab rebelled against Israel.
2 One day Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, fell through the latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover.
3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah, who was from Tishbe, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is there no God in Israel? Why are you going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will recover? 4 Now, therefore, this is what the Lord says: You will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’” So Elijah went to deliver the message.
5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned so soon?”
6 They replied, “A man came up to us and told us to go back to the king and give him this message. ‘This is what the Lord says: Is there no God in Israel? Why are you sending men to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’”
7 “What sort of man was he?” the king demanded. “What did he look like?”
8 They replied, “He was a hairy man,[a] and he wore a leather belt around his waist.”
“Elijah from Tishbe!” the king exclaimed.
9 Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king has commanded you to come down with us.”
10 But Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and killed them all.
11 So the king sent another captain with fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king demands that you come down at once.”
12 Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” And again the fire of God fell from heaven and killed them all.
13 Once more the king sent a third captain with fifty men. But this time the captain went up the hill and fell to his knees before Elijah. He pleaded with him, “O man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these, your fifty servants. 14 See how the fire from heaven came down and destroyed the first two groups. But now please spare my life!”
15 Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him, and don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king.
16 And Elijah said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Is there no God in Israel to answer your question? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.”
17 So Ahaziah died, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. Since Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him, his brother Joram[b] became the next king. This took place in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
18 The rest of the events in Ahaziah’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
Footnotes:
1:8 Or He was wearing clothing made of hair.
1:17 Hebrew Jehoram, a variant spelling of Joram.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 02, 2016
Read: Psalm 91
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.
9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”
INSIGHT:
Psalm 91 progresses in an interesting fashion. Verses 1–2 describe the confidence we have in the strength of the Lord. Verses 3–13 detail how the Lord's strength brings confidence and security. Finally, through the psalmist, the Lord speaks and confirms that His protection covers those who love Him (vv. 14–16).
He Will Reply
By Poh Fang Chia
He will call on me, and I will answer him. Psalm 91:15
I was elated when I came upon the Twitter page of my favorite Korean movie star, so I decided to drop her a note. I crafted the best message I could and waited for a reply. I knew it was unlikely I would receive a response. A celebrity like her would receive an enormous amount of fan mail every day. Still, I hoped she would reply. But I was disappointed.
Thankfully, we know God responds to us. He is the “Most High,” the “Almighty” (Ps. 91:1). His position is exalted and His power is limitless, yet He is accessible to us. God invites: “Call upon Me, and I will answer” (v. 15 nkjv).
God cares about us & wants us to come to Him in prayer.
An ancient legend tells of a monarch who hired weavers to make tapestries and garments for him. The king gave the silk and the patterns to the weavers with the strict instructions to seek his aid immediately if they had any difficulties. One young weaver was happy and successful while the others were always experiencing trouble. When the boy was asked why he was so successful, he said, “Didn’t you notice how often I called for the king?” They replied, “Yes, but he’s very busy, and we thought you were wrong in disturbing him so frequently.” The boy answered, “I just took him at his word, and he was always happy to help me!”
Our God is like that king—only so much greater. He is loving and kind enough to care about our smallest concern and faintest whisper.
Lord, it’s amazing to me that You—the God who created the universe—care about me and want me to come to You in prayer. Thank You for loving me so much.
We always have God’s attention.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 02, 2016
Will You Go Out Without Knowing?
He went out, not knowing where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8
Have you ever “gone out” in this way? If so, there is no logical answer possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the most difficult questions to answer in Christian work is, “What do you expect to do?” You don’t know what you are going to do. The only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually examine your attitude toward God to see if you are willing to “go out” in every area of your life, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in constant wonder, because you don’t know what God is going to do next. Each morning as you wake, there is a new opportunity to “go out,” building your confidence in God. “…do not worry about your life…nor about the body…” (Luke 12:22). In other words, don’t worry about the things that concerned you before you did “go out.”
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you “go out” in complete surrender to Him until you are not surprised one iota by anything He does?
Believe God is always the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him. Then think how unnecessary and disrespectful worry is! Let the attitude of your life be a continual willingness to “go out” in dependence upon God, and your life will have a sacred and inexpressible charm about it that is very satisfying to Jesus. You must learn to “go out” through your convictions, creeds, or experiences until you come to the point in your faith where there is nothing between yourself and God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.
The Place of Help
