Max Lucado Daily: Remember What You're Worth
Remember what you are worth! The Bible says, "You were bought…not with something that ruins like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ. . ." (1 Peter 1:18).
Ever feel like you have nothing? Just look at the gifts he has given you. His Holy Spirit to dwell in you, his church to encourage you, and his Word to guide you. You have been chosen by Christ. He has claimed you as his beloved. You are spoken for; engaged; set apart; called out… a holy bride!
Be obsessed with your wedding date. Be intolerant of memory lapses. Write yourself notes. Do whatever you need to do to "aim at what is in heaven. . .to think about only the things in heaven" (Colossians 3:1-20). You are engaged to Royalty-and your prince is coming to take you home!
From When Christ Comes
Psalm 115
Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
2 Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless his people Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.
14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to mankind.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who go down to the place of silence;
18 it is we who extol the Lord,
both now and forevermore.
Praise the Lord.[b]
Footnotes:
Psalm 115:18 Hebrew Hallelu Yah
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Read: Acts 9:1-19
Saul’s Conversion
Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers.[a] So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.
3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.
And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! 8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 9 He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.
10 Now there was a believer[b] in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord!” he replied.
11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
13 “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers[c] in Jerusalem! 14 And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”
15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
Saul stayed with the believers[d] in Damascus for a few days.
Footnotes:
9:1 Greek disciples.
9:10 Greek disciple; also in 9:26, 36.
9:13 Greek God’s holy people; also in 9:32, 41.
9:19 Greek disciples; also in 9:26, 38.
Surprised by Grace
By Anne Cetas
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace. Ephesians 3:7
A woman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, fell asleep on the couch after her husband had gone to bed. An intruder sneaked in through the sliding door, which the couple had forgotten to lock, and crept through the house. He entered the bedroom where the husband was sleeping and picked up the television set. The sleeping man woke up, saw a figure standing there, and whispered, "Honey, come to bed." The burglar panicked, put down the TV, grabbed a stack of money from the dresser, and ran out.
The thief was in for a big surprise! The money turned out to be a stack of Christian pamphlets with a likeness of a $20 bill on one side and an explanation of the love and forgiveness God offers to people on the other side. Instead of the cash he expected, the intruder got the story of God’s love for him.
God’s gift of grace shows us His love and forgiveness.
I wonder what Saul expected when he realized it was Jesus appearing to him on the road to Damascus, since he had been persecuting and even killing Jesus’ followers? (Acts 9:1-9). Saul, later called Paul, must have been surprised by God’s grace toward him, which he called “a gift”: “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power” (Eph. 3:7).
Have you been surprised by God’s gift of grace in your life as He shows you His love and forgiveness?
Lord, Your grace is amazing to me. I’m grateful that in spite of my sinfulness, You offer Your love to me.
Never measure God’s unlimited power by your limited expectations.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Holiness or Hardness Toward God?
He…wondered that there was no intercessor… —Isaiah 59:16
The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial— that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.
Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Philippians 2:5). Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshiping God or disputing Him when we say, “But God, I just don’t see how you are going to do this”? This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don’t worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.
Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?
Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work— work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls. Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Holding Onto Your Child In The Storm - #7623
Kissimmee, Florida is right in the middle of some of Florida's most exciting tourist attractions. So, it's usually associated with happy times. But in February of 1998 the headlines were about tragedy in Kissimmee; 38 people killed in the deadliest tornado outbreak in the state's history up to that time. In its lead front page story, USA Today told about one couple who cowered in horror. And it said, "As the house they had saved ten years to buy literally broke apart around them." Then it got worse. "The garage door," the story said, "blew open and tore away. The door into the kitchen opened, and the wind sucked like a vacuum cleaner, pulling their five-year-old daughter, Elissa, away. Her Dad said, 'She was horizontal, and my wife was holding onto her legs. There was all this glass and everything started to disappear, all the furniture, and the insides of the walls. If my wife had let go of Elissa, we wouldn't have been able to find her.'" USA Today said, "But Judy's grip held. And in a few moments, the tornado had passed and Elissa was safe in her arms." Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Holding Onto Your Child In The Storm."
If you're a parent, you may know that feeling because there are unusually stormy times right now in which to be raising a son or daughter. And sometimes you feel like all that's swirling around them threatens to take them away. There are so many mistakes they can make; so many mistakes we can make. There may be days when you feel like you're hanging on for dear life.
Our word for today from the Word of God, though it isn't addressed specifically to parents, is a great parent scripture. 2 Timothy 1:7 says this, "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline." God doesn't want your parent-heart to be a fearful heart. In fact, He has made this strong promise to parents in Isaiah 54:13, "All your children will be taught of the Lord; and great will be the peace of your children."
You can keep your child from being torn away by the storm. Take time to casually debrief each day with them; helping them interpret what they have experienced that day. Give them boundaries, but with positive reasons-not just boundaries. Focus on today-not the problems of yesterday or the prospects of tomorrow. Make your home an island of sanity in an otherwise insane world, where when they close that door, they know they're safe, not on another battlefield. And each new day give that child back to the God who gave you that child in the first place.
The ultimate secret of holding onto your child in the storm is - in a sense - letting go of your child. After the writer talked about having a spirit of power and love instead of a spirit of fear, he tells how that's possible with so much at stake. Speaking of his personal relationship with Jesus he says, "I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what (or who) I have entrusted to Him" (2 Timothy 1:12).
There is a relationship that provides a life-anchor-for anyone, but especially for parents raising children in stormy times. If you have begun that personal love-relationship with Jesus, you can commit your precious child to Him and He'll hang onto them as you never could.
But first Jesus has to be hanging onto you. There is nothing like being a parent to make you aware of your need for help, for the power to change, for forgiveness and for inner healing. And Jesus is a Mom's Savior, a Dad's Savior. He died on the cross to pay for all the sinning you and I have ever done, to tear down the wall between God and us and to open up all of God's love and all God's power to you as a Mom or Dad.
If you've never put your personal trust in Jesus Christ to be your Savior, don't wait another day for your sake; for the sake of the child you love. Look, our website is there just to help you know you belong to Him and to know how. Go to ANewStory.com, would you today?
In a world that is so dangerous and so confusing, it isn't easy to keep your child from being taken away by the storm. But you can hang onto your son or daughter if you have the Son of God hanging onto you.