Max Lucado Daily: LIVE A STIRRING LIFE
Let us each lead a life stirring enough to cause a movement! Let’s love unquenchably, dream unfalteringly, and work unceasingly. Let us close our ears to the manifold voices of compromise and perch ourselves on the branch of truth. Let’s champion the value of people, proclaim the forgiveness of God, and claim the promise of heaven.
Let’s start a movement of hope! A movement comes of age when one life harvests the seeds planted by countless lives in previous generations. A movement occurs when one person, no greater or lesser than those who’ve gone before, lives a forceful life in the fullness of time.
Let’s live lives stirring and forceful enough to cause a movement. Will the movement come in our generation? I hope so. But even if it doesn’t, even if we never see it, it will occur. And we will be part of it.
From God is With You Every Day
Psalm 50
A psalm of Asaph.
The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes
and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.
4 He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me this consecrated people,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for he is a God of justice.[h][i]
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel:
I am God, your God.
8 I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices
or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
9 I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and the insects in the fields are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 “Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15 and call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
16 But to the wicked person, God says:
“What right have you to recite my laws
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 You hate my instruction
and cast my words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.
19 You use your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and testify against your brother
and slander your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things and I kept silent,
you thought I was exactly[j] like you.
But I now arraign you
and set my accusations before you.
22 “Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
23 Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
and to the blameless[k] I will show my salvation.”
Footnotes:
Psalm 50:6 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text for God himself is judge
Psalm 50:6 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
Psalm 50:21 Or thought the ‘I am’ was
Psalm 50:23 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; the meaning of the Masoretic Text for this phrase is uncertain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
Read: Mark 5:1–20
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man
So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil[b] spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. 4 Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.
6 When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. 7 With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”
9 Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”
And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.” 10 Then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place.
11 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. 12 “Send us into those pigs,” the spirits begged. “Let us enter them.”
13 So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.
14 The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. 15 A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. 16 Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. 17 And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. 19 But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” 20 So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns[c] of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.
Footnotes:
5:1 Other manuscripts read Gadarenes; still others read Gergesenes. See Matt 8:28; Luke 8:26.
5:2 Greek unclean; also in 5:8, 13.
5:20 Greek Decapolis.
Tell It!
By Lawrence Darmani
The man went away and began to tell . . . how much Jesus had done for him. Mark 5:20
The year was 1975 and something significant had just happened to me. I needed to find my friend Francis, with whom I shared a lot of personal matters, and tell him about it. I found him in his apartment hurriedly preparing to go out, but I slowed him down. The way he stared at me, he must have sensed that I had something important to tell him. “What is it?” he asked. So I told him simply, “Yesterday I surrendered my life to Jesus!”
Francis looked at me, sighed heavily, and said, “I’ve felt like doing the same for a long time now.” He asked me to share what happened, and I told him how the previous day someone had explained the gospel to me and how I asked Jesus to come into my life. I still remember the tears in his eyes as he too prayed to receive Jesus’s forgiveness. No longer in a hurry, he and I talked and talked about our new relationship with Christ.
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. Psalm 107:2
After Jesus healed the man with an evil spirit, He told him, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19). The man didn’t need to preach a powerful sermon; he simply needed to share his story.
No matter what our conversion experience is, we can do what that man did: “[He] went away and began to tell . . . how much Jesus had done for him.”
What has Jesus done for you? Tell it!
Share your story on Facebook.com/ourdailybread.
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. Psalm 107:2
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
The Greatest Source of Power
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do… —John 14:13
Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point— the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my life? If the central point, or the most powerful influence, of my life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of my life will bear fruit for Him.
However, I must take the time to realize what this central point of power is. Am I willing to give one minute out of every hour to concentrate on it? “If you abide in Me…”— that is, if you continue to act, and think, and work from that central point— “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Am I abiding? Am I taking the time to abide? What is the greatest source of power in my life? Is it my work, service, and sacrifice for others, or is it my striving to work for God? It should be none of these— what ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. We must make a determination to limit and concentrate our desires and interests on the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
“Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do….” The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and what appears to be his free choices are actually God’s foreordained decrees. Is this mysterious? Does it appear to contradict sound logic or seem totally absurd? Yes, but what a glorious truth it is to a saint of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him. Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
Lifetime Companion - #7672
I guess after you've lived 94 years, you have a right to forget some things. And a lot of elderly people do. And some of us not so elderly. My wife's grandfather was 94 and had reached the point of not even recognizing some of his family. It's a small family-just one son and two granddaughters, including my wife. My wife called her Granddad one day and she spoke loudly so he could hear, and she said, "Hi, Granddad. I love you." And she identified who was calling. There was no response for a moment-then almost irritated; he said "Who is this?" And she identified herself again, and she said, "You know, you have one son who had two daughters. I'm the oldest daughter. I love you, Granddad." Well, this time he just chuckled. He had no idea who this strange woman was saying she loved him. I just love my wife's response, "Well, Granddad, the most important thing is this-Jesus loves you." To which Granddad responded-"Now Him I know!" I love it!
This is Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lifetime Companion."
Remembering that precious conversation with my wife's grandfather always touches me. His lifetime companion, my wife's Grandma of course, was gone. He didn't always recognize his son or his granddaughters. But there was one companion that had walked with him through it all and who he knew was still there by his side every step of the way... Jesus.
The sad thing is that so many of us are trying to make it without that unloseable lifetime companion. Maybe you are. Well, you don't have to go it alone any farther. Here's our word for today from the Word of God. It comes from Hebrews 13:5, "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" What a promise-"never leave you"-the best kind of love you could imagine. The kind you may have looked for in relationship after relationship and never found. That search ends when you finally give your life to Jesus Christ.
Some people leave you by choice-either you change or they change and they're gone. That will never happen with Jesus. He'll never change. Three verses later it says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." That's what my wife's grandfather found out. Jesus was there for Him when he was a young man starting out teaching...when he started a family...when he built a home...when he was sick...when he lost his wife...when he couldn't comprehend very much at the end...and when he walked into eternity one morning. Jesus loves you-and nothing you do can change that.
Some people would never choose to leave you-but one day they can't be there anymore. I've buried my father, my mother. I've lost others very, very close to me. Some who don't want to leave us do, but because Jesus has conquered death, you can't lose Him. Your Savior will never die on you, never divorce you, and never change His mind about you.
The proof: His cross. He went there to die for you running your own life...to pay that eternal death penalty that your sin carries. How bad is that death penalty? Look at Jesus dying on the cross. If He was ever going to abandon you, it would have been when His love for you meant taking your hell on that cross. But He died for you-so that if you would put your trust in Him to be your Rescuer from your sin, you would have His love forever.
So much of your life may have been unnecessary loneliness. Because you have never really begun a personal relationship with the One who will never leave you. Haven't there been enough days without Him? Let this be your first Jesus-day. Just tell Him right where you are that you are putting all your trust in Him and what He did on the cross for you.
There's some wonderful information at our website that I would love to share with you so you can be sure you are anchored to this unloseable love of Jesus. The website is ANewStory.com. Please meet me there.
For a long time, your heart has been aching for that lifetime companion-the one who will walk with you through it all-right into eternity. His name is Jesus. He's waiting for you now.