Max Lucado Daily: Sealed by God
As a parent, when our children stumble, we don't disown them. We may punish or reprimand, but cast them out of the family? We cannot. They are biologically connected to us. Those born with our DNA will die with it.
God, our Father, engenders the same relationship with us. Upon salvation we become, as John 1:12 says, "children of God." He alters our lineage, redefines our spiritual parenthood, and in doing so, secures our salvation. Paul says, "Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 1:13). And a soul sealed by God is safe! God paid too high a price to leave us unguarded.
Again, a reminder from Paul in Ephesians 4:30, "He has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption." What a difference this assurance makes!
From 3:16
1 Corinthians 1
Greetings from Paul
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.
2 I am writing to God’s church in Corinth,[a] to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus,[b] just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Paul Gives Thanks to God
4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Divisions in the Church
10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters,[c] by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,[d]” or “I follow only Christ.”
13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) 17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
The Wisdom of God
18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”[e]
20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles,[f] Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy[g] when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world,[h] things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”[i]
Footnotes:
1:2a Corinth was the capital city of Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula.
1:2b Or because you belong to Christ Jesus.
1:10 Greek brothers; also in 1:11, 26.
1:12 Greek Cephas.
1:19 Isa 29:14.
1:24 Greek and Greeks.
1:26 Or high born.
1:28 Or God chose those who are low born.
1:31 Jer 9:24.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Read: John 11:1-4, 38-44
The Raising of Lazarus
A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair.[a] Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”
Footnotes: 11:2 This incident is recorded in chapter 12.
John 11:38-44New Living Translation (NLT)
38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
INSIGHT:
Bethany, which is less than two miles from Jerusalem, was the home of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus (John 11:1). Because Jesus had a very close relationship with this family (v. 3), it is likely that He would stay in their home whenever He came into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:17; Luke 10:38; John 12:1). It is possible Jesus stayed often at their home after His resurrection, for Jesus’s ascension took place “in the vicinity of Bethany” (Luke 24:50). Sim Kay Tee
Jesus Wept
By Poh Fang Chia
The sting of death is sin. . . . But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
I was engrossed in a book when a friend bent over to see what I was reading. Almost immediately, she recoiled and looked at me aghast. “What a gloomy title!” she said. I was reading “The Glass Coffin” in Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and the word coffin disturbed her. Most of us don’t like to be reminded of our mortality. But the reality is that out of 1,000 people, 1,000 people will die.
Death always elicits a deep emotional response. It was at the funeral of one of His dear friends that Jesus displayed strong emotions. When He saw Mary, whose brother had recently died, “he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (John 11:33). Another translation says, “a deep anger welled up within him” (nlt).
Christ’s empty tomb guarantees our victory over death.
Jesus was troubled—even angry—but at what? Possibly, He was indignant at sin and its consequences. God didn’t make a world filled with sickness, suffering, and death. But sin entered the world and marred God’s beautiful plan.
The Lord comes alongside us in our grief, weeping with us in our sorrow (v. 35). But more than that, Christ defeated sin and death by dying in our place and rising from the dead (1 Cor. 15:56-57).
Jesus promises, “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). As believers we enjoy fellowship with our Savior now, and we look forward to an eternity with Him where there will be no more tears, pain, sickness, or death.
Christ’s empty tomb guarantees our victory over death.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Don’t Hurt the Lord
Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9
Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us— astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask— “Lord, show us the Father…” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.
“Let not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 21, 2016
You Have No Secrets - #7639
Well, I'm happy to report to you that I have no problem with the paparazzi. Those celebrity photographers have been very respectful of my privacy. In fact, they could care less about anything I do. But, in reality, these freelance celebrity photographers have been the object of some big-time criticism. I mean, think of their pursuit of Princess Diana which some think contributed to the circumstances of her tragic death.
Those prying lenses seem to be everywhere, trying to capture a picture of someone famous doing something outrageous, or sensational, or lurid. And, unfortunately, the personal lifestyles of a lot of people provide those kinds of things to shoot. Of course, when it comes to our lives, we want privacy – no intrusive cameras capturing moments we would rather not have everyone know about. There aren't many people, frankly, who could afford to have a camera capturing everything they do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Have No Secrets."
Actually, there is such a "camera" trained on your life at all times. In the Bible in Psalm 139, one man says, "O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down." Then the sobering bottom line, written by a spiritual leader who thought no one knew about his secret act of adultery, "You are familiar with all my ways." King David learned that there is nothing we do that is missed or forgotten by God.
Solomon put it this way, "A man's ways are in full view of the Lord" (Proverbs 5:21). It's obvious from what God says He knows about you and me that there's no such thing as getting away with any sin. Sooner or later, we're going to face that sin head on and its consequences. In fact, God puts it this way; "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). You might say, "Well, it hasn't yet." Key word: yet. Judgment delayed is not judgment canceled.
Some of the most liberating words in the world are these – nothing to hide. It is so great to be able to live in such a way that it doesn't matter what someone overhears, films, tapes, discovers...to live without worrying about what's coming up behind you in your rear view mirror. When you live with integrity, you've got no fear of discovery. And that is freedom!
But it's very sobering to face the fact that God's eternal judgment is going to be based on His total knowledge of everything we've ever thought, ever said, ever done. There will be no secrets on judgment day. The picture God will show on the screen that day will include everything. For a lot of us, the accumulated guilt of a lifetime of sins is, if we will acknowledge it, an almost crushing weight. It would appear we don't stand a chance with a holy God, not after all we've done against Him and without Him.
But, thank God, there's a way to have that tell-all film destroyed once and for all. Imagine being free of your guilt, and the shame, and the eternal punishment that sin calls for; of knowing that the gates of heaven will be flung wide open for you when you die. It can happen to you.
Our word for today from the Word of God, Acts 10:43, "Everyone who believes in Him (that's Jesus) receives forgiveness of sins through His Name." God's wonderful promise to everyone who has been to Jesus' cross to have their sins forever forgiven, He says, "I will forgive their wickedness and I will remember their sins no more' (Hebrews 8:12). If you want God to forget every sin you've ever done, get to Jesus today.
If God's all-knowing picture of your sin is there when you die, there is no way He can let you into His heaven. But that picture can be destroyed today if you reach out to Jesus and trust Him to be your Savior. This is why He died! "Jesus, I'm yours." Tell Him that today.
Our website is full of information that will help you know how to claim that forgiveness and know you belong to Him. I hope you'll go there. It's ANewStory.com where your new story can begin.
To think that Jesus absorbed all the guilt and all the hell of all those sins when He died on the cross! That's like overwhelming love, and He's waiting right now to pour out that love on you.