Max Lucado Daily: An Anchor for Your Soul
Six hours, one Friday. To the casual observer the six hours are mundane. But to the handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross. The Creator of the universe is being executed!
It is no normal six hours. . .it is no normal Friday. His own friends ran for cover. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone.
What do you do with that day in history? If God did commandeer his own crucifixion. . .if he did turn his back on his own son. . .if he did storm Satan's gate, then those six hours that Friday were packed with tragic triumph. If that was God on that cross, then the hill called Skull is granite studded with stakes to which you can anchor your soul forever!
From On Calvary's Hill
Psalm 111
Praise the Lord!
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people.
2 How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!
All who delight in him should ponder them.
3 Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.
4 He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
How gracious and merciful is our Lord!
5 He gives food to those who fear him;
he always remembers his covenant.
6 He has shown his great power to his people
by giving them the lands of other nations.
7 All he does is just and good,
and all his commandments are trustworthy.
8 They are forever true,
to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.
9 He has paid a full ransom for his people.
He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
10 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.
Praise him forever!
Footnotes:
111 This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; after the introductory note of praise, each line begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 25, 2016
Read: Romans 8:28-39
And we know that God causes everything to work together[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[b] among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[c]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[d] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes:
8:28 Some manuscripts read And we know that everything works together.
8:29 Or would be supreme.
8:36 Ps 44:22.
8:38 Greek nor rulers.
INSIGHT:
In Romans 5–8, Paul told the Roman Christians what Christ had done to save them and of the benefits they now have. Today’s passage is Paul’s concluding affirmation and celebration of God’s providential care. Quoting from Psalm 44:22 (in Rom. 8:36), Paul makes the point that Christians are not exempt from afflictions, suffering, or death (Rom. 8:35). Even so, we need not fear because “God is for us” (v. 31).
Three-Word Obituary
By David McCasland
Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God.
Romans 8:34
Before Stig Kernell died, he told the local funeral home that he didn’t want a traditional obituary. Instead, the Swedish man instructed them to publish only three words noting his passing: “I am dead.” When Mr. Kernell died at age 92, that’s exactly what appeared. The audacity and simplicity of his unusual death notice captured the attention of newspapers around the world. In a strange twist, the international curiosity about the man with the three-word obituary caused more attention to his death than he intended.
When Jesus was crucified, the Lord’s obituary could have read, “He is dead.” But after 3 days, it would have been changed to front-page news saying, “He is risen!” Much of the New Testament is devoted to proclaiming and explaining the results of Christ’s resurrection. “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? . . . We are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:34-37).
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
The three-word obituary of Jesus, “He is dead,” has been transformed into an eternal anthem of praise to our Savior. He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Lord, we rejoice in Your great victory over sin and death through Your resurrection. May we live in light of it every day.
Jesus sacrificed His life for ours.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 25, 2016
Maintaining the Proper Relationship
…the friend of the bridegroom… —John 3:29
Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.
To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the “friend of the bridegroom.” Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends “of the bridegroom,” we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 25, 2016
Good Friday...YOUR Friday - #7620
Thirty-three years. That's how long my wife and I had been married when a friend asked her how she had put up with me for 33 years and she said, "I've only seen him for four of them!" Maybe that's a secret of a happy marriage. Actually, I know another secret for every husband: remember your anniversary.
For me, there's a certain day in the summer that might be just any old day for other people, but it's forever got a glow around it for two people – my wife and me. It's the day I walked into a church not married and I walked out married. It's the day I made a lifetime commitment to a wonderful girl. Now, if you had just met me, you might ask, "Are you married?" What if I said, "Well, I'm not sure." We've got a problem here! Or, what if I said, "I hope so" or "You know, we've spent a lot of time together over the years. We must have gotten married somewhere!" Come on, if you're married, you know you're married! Or you're not!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Good Friday...YOUR Friday."
Now, you know if you got married or not because it's a conscious, deliberate commitment. I mean, I remember. I said those vows. Now, I call that life's second most important relationship. But it's also true of life's most important relationship - your relationship with the God who created you, with the God that you'll stand before right after your last heartbeat. If you've begun a personal relationship with Him, you know you did. If you don't know you did, you probably didn't.
Our word for today from the Word of God: 2 Corinthians 13:5. "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?" Since where you spend all eternity depends on whether or not you have this relationship with Jesus, you want to be sure you do.
So how do you "check up on yourself' to see if you really belong to Him? Well, how can a person be sure they're married? By answering one simple question. "Was there a time when I consciously and sincerely committed my life to this person?" How can you be sure you have this life-saving relationship with Jesus? Was there a time when you consciously and sincerely committed your life to Jesus Christ? If you did it, you know you did. If you don't know you did, you didn't.
The Bible describes this moment of commitment in these words in John 1:12. "To all who received Christ, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God." Someone might say, "Well, aren't we all God's children?" No, we're all God's creation, but we're only His child if there has been a definite moment of being born into His family; a birth that takes place when you believe it says. Now, believe in the Bible in the original language means putting your total trust in Jesus to be your Savior from the death penalty for your sins. He died on the cross for those sins. Have you ever definitely told Him you were totally committing yourself to Him?
You may not remember an exact day, but you do need to know there was one! Like marriage, this is a conscious commitment. If you don't know that, and you want to begin that love relationship with Jesus Christ, let this be your day of beginning, the day you can always point to as your Jesus-day. Good Friday, your Friday. You can tell Him you want to belong to Him with a prayer like this right where you are, "Jesus, I have run my own life. I resign. I believe You paid the death penalty for my sin when You died on that cross. And today I am putting all my trust in You to be my Savior like a drowning person would grab a lifeguard. Beginning today, I'm Yours."
If that's what you want. If you want to be sure of it, I would invite you as soon as you can to get over to our website and read what I've put there for you to help you actually know that today you've got it done. The website - ANewStory.com.
Courtship doesn't make you married, engagement doesn't make you married. Only that lifetime commitment. It's the same with the Savior who died for you. And I pray that if you've never had that moment of commitment to Him, you'd make it today. For all eternity, you'll be able to celebrate this as your personal anniversary of receiving eternal life.