Max Lucado Daily: Alive Again
The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only four minutes to kill thirty-thousand people! One father refused to believe his son was dead. He dug in the rubble-refusing to quit. After thirty-eight hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son's voice! The father called his son's name, and the voice answered him, "Dad, it's me!" Then the boy added these priceless words: "I told the other kids not to worry-if you were alive you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved, too. Because you promised!"
God has made the same promise to us in 1 Corinthians 15:22-23. "Christ rose first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will become alive again."
Christ's resurrection is the keystone in the archway of the Christian faith. His death is real. His resurrection is sure! Trust him.
From When Christ Comes
Psalm 89
A maskil[b] of Ethan the Ezrahite.
I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
4 ‘I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations.’”[c]
5 The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8 Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
you founded the world and all that is in it.
12 You created the north and the south;
Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm is endowed with power;
your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
16 They rejoice in your name all day long;
they celebrate your righteousness.
17 For you are their glory and strength,
and by your favor you exalt our horn.[d]
18 Indeed, our shield[e] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Once you spoke in a vision,
to your faithful people you said:
“I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
I have raised up a young man from among the people.
20 I have found David my servant;
with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
21 My hand will sustain him;
surely my arm will strengthen him.
22 The enemy will not get the better of him;
the wicked will not oppress him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down his adversaries.
24 My faithful love will be with him,
and through my name his horn[f] will be exalted.
25 I will set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
26 He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, the Rock my Savior.’
27 And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,
the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28 I will maintain my love to him forever,
and my covenant with him will never fail.
29 I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as the heavens endure.
30 “If his sons forsake my law
and do not follow my statutes,
31 if they violate my decrees
and fail to keep my commands,
32 I will punish their sin with the rod,
their iniquity with flogging;
33 but I will not take my love from him,
nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered.
35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
and I will not lie to David—
36 that his line will continue forever
and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37 it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.”
38 But you have rejected, you have spurned,
you have been very angry with your anointed one.
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant
and have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken through all his walls
and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
41 All who pass by have plundered him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his splendor
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with a mantle of shame.
46 How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how fleeting is my life.
For what futility you have created all humanity!
48 Who can live and not see death,
or who can escape the power of the grave?
49 Lord, where is your former great love,
which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Remember, Lord, how your servant has[g] been mocked,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
51 the taunts with which your enemies, Lord, have mocked,
with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.
52 Praise be to the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
Footnotes:
Psalm 89:1 In Hebrew texts 89:1-52 is numbered 89:2-53.
Psalm 89:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 89:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 37, 45 and 48.
Psalm 89:17 Horn here symbolizes strong one.
Psalm 89:18 Or sovereign
Psalm 89:24 Horn here symbolizes strength.
Psalm 89:50 Or your servants have
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 08, 2016
Read: Psalm 36:5-12
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.
7 How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter
in the shadow of your wings.
8 You feed them from the abundance of your own house,
letting them drink from your river of delights.
9 For you are the fountain of life,
the light by which we see.
10 Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you;
give justice to those with honest hearts.
11 Don’t let the proud trample me
or the wicked push me around.
12 Look! Those who do evil have fallen!
They are thrown down, never to rise again.
INSIGHT:
David—opposed and persecuted by powerful enemies—wrote of these threats to his life in Psalms 34–36, asking and thanking God for His protection and deliverance. In Psalm 36, David contrasts the wicked and the righteous. The wicked commit evil because they have no fear of God (v. 1). David, however, chose to live differently—he chose to live a life of trust in a merciful, faithful, righteous, and just God (vv. 5-7). David affirms that God will protect and sustain the faithful.
Abundant Supply
By Keila Ochoa
You give them drink from your river of delights. Psalm 36:8
We have a hummingbird feeder in the garden, and we love to see the little birds come and drink from its sugary water. Recently, however, we went on a short trip and forgot to replenish its contents. When we came back, it was completely dry. Poor birds! I thought. Because of my forgetfulness, they haven’t had any nourishment. Then I was reminded that I am not the one who feeds them: God is.
Sometimes we may feel that all of the demands of life have depleted our strength and there is no one to replenish it. But others don’t feed our souls: God does.
In Psalm 36 we read about God’s lovingkindness. It describes those who put their trust in Him and are abundantly satisfied. God gives them water from His “river of delights” (v. 8). He is the fountain of life!
We can go to God every day for the supply of our needs. As Charles Spurgeon wrote, “The springs of my faith and all my graces; the springs of my life and all my pleasures; the springs of my activity and all its right doings; the springs of my hope, and all its heavenly anticipations, all lie in thee, my Lord.”
Let us be filled with His abundant supply. His fountain will never run dry.
Lord, I come to You with the confidence that You will fill me with what I need.
God's love is abundant.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 08, 2016
I have been crucified with Christ… —Galatians 2:20
To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.
Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?
We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.
If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.
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, March 08, 2016
How to Guarantee You're Never Content
When our daughter came into our family, she had Mom and Dad all to herself. It was a wonderful life! Life was a little more complicated for our next child. He got to do what every second-born gets to do. He competed with the first born for Mom's and Dad's attention! He also had someone to measure everything by. Obviously, at every age our daughter could have a few more privileges, a little more money, a little more freedom. So when our son wanted a little different response from us on something, we would often hear sentences that began with the same few words "How come she gets to...?" - sound familiar? When in doubt, compare yourself with a brother or sister.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Guarantee You're Never Content."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 21 beginning at verse 19. Jesus had just told Peter in symbolic terms that he was going to end up giving his life for the Savior who he had just declared his love for. And then the Bible says, "Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then He said to him, 'Follow Me.' Peter turned and saw the disciple who Jesus loved was following them." By the way, that would be John. "When Peter saw him he asked, 'Lord, what about him?' Jesus answered, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.'"
Can you hear Peter here, "Well what about John?" Peter was falling into the trap that always leads to frustration and discontentment. He was comparing himself with someone else. That's how discontentment starts – with comparison. It's easy to start comparing your appearance with someone else's, or your lifestyle, or your ministry, your income, your ability, or how people are treating you. So many areas in which we tend to measure how we're doing by someone else, and we guarantee ourselves we'll never be at peace and we'll never be content.
God warns us about this frustrating way of living in 2 Corinthians 10:12. Here it is: "Comparing themselves by themselves, they are not wise." It's unwise because it just causes a lot of negative results like resentment towards the brother or sister we think is getting a better deal or resentment toward God because we think He's not being fair with us.
Of course we always compare ourselves with someone whose situation looks better, right? And we almost never compare ourselves with many people whose situation makes ours look good. And comparing usually makes us feel worse about ourselves.
Now Jesus stops this comparing cancer in its tracks. He says, "What is that to you, Peter?" You have neither the right nor the information to compare His work in your life with His work in someone else's. Jesus says, "Listen, you follow Me." He's got a different plan for each life, a different timetable, a different blueprint for His glory and your good. There's a wonderful peace for those who decide to relax in God's unique plan for their life, for those who will stop this childish game of measuring their lives by someone else's. It's addictive and it's almost always depressing.
Focus on your leader. Focus on Jesus, and not the other followers, and trust that He has you on a track that's just right for you to become and to do all that He put you on earth to do. Comparing and discontentment are ultimately a huge insult to the Savior who loves you deeply and who daily leads you with His perfect wisdom. I can tell you it never made my son happy to live asking "How come she gets to...?" Comparing to a brother or sister never makes a child happy, including a child of God.
If you must compare, compare your life to your Savior's. He had no home but a hillside, no possessions but a robe, and a life totally poured out for the needs of others. Keep your eyes on this incredible Shepherd.
