Max Lucado Daily: Loving Like God Loves
Need more patience? Is generosity an elusive virtue? Having trouble putting up with ungrateful relatives or cranky neighbors? God puts up with you when you act the same.
Luke 6:35 says, "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back." Can't we love like this? Not without God's help we can't. Our relationships need more than a social gesture. Some of our friends need a flood of tears. Our children need to be covered in the oil of our love.
But if we haven't received these things ourselves, how can we give them to others? Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us that apart from God, "the heart is deceitful about all things." We need help from an outside source. A transfusion. Would we love as God loves? Then we start by receiving God's love!
From A Love Worth Giving
Amos 7
Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line
This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
3 So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen,” the Lord said.
4 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
6 So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[a] with a plumb line[b] in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”
Amos and Amaziah
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,
“‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a pagan[c] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’”
Footnotes:
Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
Read: 2 Chronicles 21:4-20
But when Jehoram had become solidly established as king, he killed all his brothers and some of the other leaders of Judah.
5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 6 But Jehoram followed the example of the kings of Israel and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters. So Jehoram did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. 7 But the Lord did not want to destroy David’s dynasty, for he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.
8 During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and crowned their own king. 9 So Jehoram went out with his full army and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he went out at night and attacked them[a] under cover of darkness. 10 Even so, Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah also revolted about that same time. All this happened because Jehoram had abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors. 11 He had built pagan shrines in the hill country of Judah and had led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to give themselves to pagan gods and to go astray.
12 Then Elijah the prophet wrote Jehoram this letter:
“This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: You have not followed the good example of your father, Jehoshaphat, or your grandfather King Asa of Judah. 13 Instead, you have been as evil as the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even killed your own brothers, men who were better than you. 14 So now the Lord is about to strike you, your people, your children, your wives, and all that is yours with a heavy blow. 15 You yourself will suffer with a severe intestinal disease that will get worse each day until your bowels come out.”
16 Then the Lord stirred up the Philistines and the Arabs, who lived near the Ethiopians,[b] to attack Jehoram. 17 They marched against Judah, broke down its defenses, and carried away everything of value in the royal palace, including the king’s sons and his wives. Only his youngest son, Ahaziah,[c] was spared.
18 After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable intestinal disease. 19 The disease grew worse and worse, and at the end of two years it caused his bowels to come out, and he died in agony. His people did not build a great funeral fire to honor him as they had done for his ancestors.
20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.
Footnotes:
21:9 Or he went out and escaped. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
21:16 Hebrew the Cushites.
21:17 Hebrew Jehoahaz, a variant spelling of Ahaziah; compare 22:1.
Leave a Legacy
By Tim Gustafson
Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. Mark 10:45
When a road-construction foreman was killed in an accident, the love of this man for his family, co-workers, and community resulted in an overwhelming sense of loss. His country church couldn’t accommodate all the mourners, so planners moved the service to a much larger building. Friends and family packed the auditorium! The message was clear: Tim touched many lives in a way uniquely his. So many would miss his kindness, sense of humor, and enthusiasm for life.
As I returned from the funeral, I thought about the life of King Jehoram. What a contrast! His brief reign of terror is traced in 2 Chronicles 21. To solidify his power, Jehoram killed his own brothers and other leaders (v. 4). Then he led Judah into idol worship. The record tells us, “He passed away, to no one’s regret” (v. 20). Jehoram thought that brute force would ensure his legacy. It did. He is forever commemorated in Scripture as an evil man and a self-centered leader.
Life isn't just about ourselves. It's about Jesus.
Although Jesus also was a king, He came to Earth to be a servant. As He went about doing good, He endured the hatred of those who grasped for power. In the process, this Servant-King gave His life away.
Today, Jesus lives along with His legacy. That legacy includes those who understand that life isn’t just about themselves. It’s about Jesus—the One who longs to wrap His strong, forgiving arms around anyone who turns to Him.
Lord, in Your death as well as in Your life, You did the will of Your Father and served others. In some small way, help us to serve others with our lives today.
A life lived for God leaves a lasting legacy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
The Compelling Force of the Call
Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! —1 Corinthians 9:16
Beware of refusing to hear the call of God. Everyone who is saved is called to testify to the fact of his salvation. That, however, is not the same as the call to preach, but is merely an illustration which can be used in preaching. In this verse, Paul was referring to the stinging pains produced in him by the compelling force of the call to preach the gospel. Never try to apply what Paul said regarding the call to preach to those souls who are being called to God for salvation. There is nothing easier than getting saved, because it is solely God’s sovereign work— “Look to Me, and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22). Our Lord never requires the same conditions for discipleship that he requires for salvation. We are condemned to salvation through the Cross of Christ. But discipleship has an option with it— “If anyone…” (Luke 14:26).
Paul’s words have to do with our being made servants of Jesus Christ, and our permission is never asked as to what we will do or where we will go. God makes us as broken bread and poured-out wine to please Himself. To be “separated to the gospel” means being able to hear the call of God (Romans 1:1). Once someone begins to hear that call, a suffering worthy of the name of Christ is produced. Suddenly, every ambition, every desire of life, and every outlook is completely blotted out and extinguished. Only one thing remains— “…separated to the gospel…” Woe be to the soul who tries to head in any other direction once that call has come to him. The Bible Training College exists so that each of you may know whether or not God has a man or woman here who truly cares about proclaiming His gospel and to see if God grips you for this purpose. Beware of competing calls once the call of God grips you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
A Life That Depends On You - #7582
There are so many stories that put a face on the World Trade Center tragedy of September 11, 2001. I saw a particularly moving first-person story of one woman who miraculously survived the collapse of the North Tower that awful day. She tried to make her way down the long stairwell from her office on the 64th floor, and she got to the 13th floor. That's when the entire tower began to crumble. She fell to the ground as the building continued to collapse around her. She dropped thirteen floors and ended up with her head pinned between two concrete pillars and her legs trapped in a staircase. She said, "I saw that no one came, and I wasn't hearing any noises around me. So I thought, 'I'm doing to die here. I'm going to see myself slowly die here.'"
The young mother prayed, slept, and prayed some more. And at one point, she just asked God for a miracle. That's when she heard noises. She yelled out, and someone answered back. She had been trapped under tons of debris for 27 hours. Here's how she described what happened next: "I took a piece of concrete and I knocked the stair above me. And when they heard the knocking, they started to come closer. And then I put my hands through a little crack in the ceiling, and I felt the person hold my hand. The fireman found my hand and he said, 'I've got you.' And I said, 'Thank God.'" She was the last person pulled alive from the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Life That Depends On You."
There's no scene more powerful than a rescue. Whether it's a firefighter pulling someone out of tons of debris or a spiritual rescuer leading someone from an eternity without hope into the life that only Jesus can give. Someone will live instead of dying because someone else took the risks to go in for the rescue.
If you've been rescued by Jesus, then your orders couldn't be more clear. Listen to our word for today from the Word of God in Jude 23. "Save others by snatching them from the fire." See, someone snatched you from the fire of God's judgment. Now it's your turn to rescue some folks within your reach who have not yet grabbed the hand of Jesus; who may not even know He's extending His hand.
I'm not saying it's easy to tell someone else about Jesus. When has rescuing someone ever been easy? When has there been a rescue that didn't involve the rescuer taking risks, going beyond where it's safe? So many fears keep us from telling the people we know about Jesus; the fear of being rejected – you know the fears; the fear of messing it up and the fear of not knowing all the answers.
But there needs to be a fear far greater than any of those, and that's the fear of this person we know spending all eternity in hell, forever away from God. It's that fear of losing someone forever that finally says, "I can't hold back any longer. If I don't go in, they may die. If I do go in, they have a chance to live."
The man who rescued that young woman from the World Trade Center debris first had to touch her. You need to be doing whatever it takes to touch the life of someone that you hope to take to heaven with you. Build that relationship. Take time for them. Go out of your way to get to know them. Find ways to serve them, to show love to them in their language. Be there for them in critical moments. Touch them so you can save them.
And ask the Lord, who is ultimately the One who rescues every person, to open up natural opportunities for you to explain your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Pray that three-open prayer, "Lord, open a door. Lord, open their heart. Lord, open my mouth."
There is someone in your personal world whose life, in a very real way, depends on you every bit as much as a trapped young woman's life depended on that firefighter who risked to save her. And there is no greater thrill, no greater joy than being able to reach out to a lost person and to be able to say "I've got you" and to help them move from death to life.