Max Lucado Daily: Next Door Savior
In the aftermath of 9/11, a group of religious leaders was invited to come to Washington and pray with President Bush. The group was well frocked and well known. You might wonder if I felt out of place. The only time I wear a robe is when I step out of the shower. When it came my turn to meet George W. Bush, I added, "And, Mr. President, I was raised in Andrews, Texas, a half-hour drive from your hometown." He smiled that lopsided smile and let his accent drawl ever so slightly. "Why, I know your town. I've walked those streets. I've even played your golf course."
It was nice to know the president knew my home. How much nicer to know the same about God! Yes, he rules the universe. Yes, he has walked your streets. He's still the next door Savior. Jesus-the One above all powers! Jesus-the One who knows your home? You bet he is!
From Next Door Savior
Amos 4
Israel Has Not Returned to God
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”
2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
“The time will surely come
when you will be taken away with hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks.[a]
3 You will each go straight out
through breaches in the wall,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,[b]”
declares the Lord.
4 “Go to Bethel and sin;
go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years.[c]
5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offerings—
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.
6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
8 People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues among you
as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.”
13 He who forms the mountains,
who creates the wind,
and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord God Almighty is his name.
Footnotes:
Amos 4:2 Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets
Amos 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression
Amos 4:4 Or days
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 29, 2016
Read: 1 Kings 4:29-34
God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. 30 In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. 32 He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33 He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish. 34 And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.
INSIGHT:
There is a subtle but important difference between intelligence and wisdom. Both of them are desirable; both of them important; both require diligence and discipline to acquire and exercise. However, wisdom is often considered the appropriate application of intelligence. Knowing something is one thing; being able to act well on what you know is another. As Solomon shows, intelligence can be demonstrated by speech, but wisdom is demonstrated in both speech and action.
Her Father’s Zoo
By Mart DeHaan
The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel. Proverbs 12:10
June Williams was only 4 when her father bought 7 acres of land to build a zoo without bars or cages. Growing up she remembers how creative her father was in trying to help wild animals feel free in confinement. Today Chester Zoo is one of England’s most popular wildlife attractions. Home to 11,000 animals on 110 acres of land, the zoo reflects her father’s concern for animal welfare, education, and conservation.
Solomon had a similar interest in all creatures great and small. In addition to studying the wildlife of the Middle East, he imported exotic animals like apes and monkeys from far-off lands (1 Kings 10:22). But one of his proverbs shows us that Solomon’s knowledge of nature went beyond intellectual curiosity. When he expressed the spiritual implications of how we treat our animals, he mirrored something of the heart of our Creator: “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel” (Prov. 12:10).
The beauty of God's creation should inspire us to take better care of what He has entrusted to us.
With God-given wisdom, Solomon saw that our relationship to our Creator affects not only how we treat people but also how much thoughtful consideration we give to the creatures in our care.
Father in heaven, when we think about the wonder and diversity of Your animal kingdom, please help us not only to worship You, but to care for what You’ve entrusted to us.
God is the real Owner of all of us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 29, 2016
How Could Someone Be So Ignorant!
Who are You, Lord? —Acts 26:15
“The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand…” (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances.
God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, “I know that this is what I should do” — and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. “He…rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ ” (Luke 9:55). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord— “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 29, 2016
Carried When You Can't Make It - #7580
At one time our offices were on the third floor of an old factory building. There were a lot of stairs, and they had a pretty steep pitch. One of our team members dropped by one day with her beautiful four-month-old daughter, Katie. Mom was tired. And needless to say, the child wasn't able to climb up the stairs to the third floor on her own. Sometimes adults could barely make it. Mom needed to carry Katie in her arms the whole way. The sight of her carrying her daughter? I hate to say it was almost amusing. Mom was out of breath as she tried to recover. But not Katie! No, she was all cute and wide-eyed. She's not sweating; she's not panting. No, she's totally relaxed, totally cool. Of course she didn't have to do any of the work.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Carried When You Can't Make It."
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God from Deuteronomy 1:29; a wonderful passage on the relationship God the Father has with us, His kids. He says, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them." With Jesus you don't have to be afraid of anything. "The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you." And then He says, "The Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."
That's a beautiful picture! Notice I said a loving parent had come to our office carrying a child where that child could have never gone on her own. All the work was done by the parent. The child? Totally relaxed.
Let's talk about where you are right now. You may be at the end of your strength, the end of your answers, the end of your resources, the end of your money, or the end of your hope. You know what? It's time for "carry power." "As a father carries his son" God says. God has His big arms wide open right now saying, "My child, quit trying to do this on your own. You'll never make it. It's carry time. Come on!"
For some of us self-reliant, stubborn types it's hard to surrender our self-effort. We're not going to make it. God leads us through the desert where we can't survive so we'll finally surrender to being carried. So we'll finally exchange our weakness for His strength and our stress for His peace. That's the exchange that He invites us to in Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything."
But there we are huffing and puffing, trying to crawl up the stairs on our own. He said, "But in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Give the whole load to your Father. Let Him carry you. And He says, "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
That's the lightness of Spirit, the calm in your heart. That's what I saw in little Katie when she came to the office. The one who was carrying her was doing all the work; taking all the strain. Maybe you've got something right now that Jesus needs to carry. And remember, He paid a high price so He would be available; there would be no wall between you and Him so He could carry you and carry your burden.
The Bible says, "What a friend we have in Jesus; all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer."
Now, would you let Him carry what you've carried for way too long? The problem stressing you, whose problem is it to solve? Is it yours or Almighty God's? The mountain that needs to be moved? The person who needs to change? Whose job is it? How you answer those questions will be the difference between great peace or great stress.
With God, you can go to heights you cannot go to alone. Like Katie and her mother carrying her, your Heavenly Father is ready to do that for you if you'll trust His "carry power."