Max Lucado Daily: MAKING SATAN TREMBLE
Most of us struggle with prayer. We forget to pray. And when we do, our minds drift; our thoughts scatter like a covey of quail. Why is this? Prayer requires minimal effort. No location is prescribed. No particular clothing is required. Yet you’d think we were wrestling a greased pig.
Speaking of pigs, Satan seeks to interrupt our prayers. Our battle with prayer isn’t entirely our fault. The Devil knows the stories; he knows what happens when we pray. He knows the Scripture, “Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Satan is not troubled when Max writes a book or prepares a sermon, but his knobby knees tremble when Max prays.
Satan keeps you and me from prayer. He tries to position himself between us and God. But he scampers like a spooked dog when we move forward in prayer. So let’s do it…let’s pray!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 27
King Jotham
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king; he reigned sixteen years at Jerusalem. His mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. In God’s eyes he lived a good life, following the path marked out by his father Uzziah. Unlike his father, though, he didn’t desecrate The Temple of God. But the people pushed right on in their lives of corruption.
3-6 Jotham constructed the Upper Gate of The Temple of God, considerably extended the Wall of the Ophel, and built cities in the high country of Judah and forts and towers down in the forests. He fought and beat the king of the Ammonites—that year the Ammonites turned over three and a quarter tons of silver and about 65,000 bushels of wheat, and another 65,000 bushels of barley. They repeated this for the next two years. Jotham’s strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience to God.
7-9 The rest of the history of Jotham, including his wars and achievements, are all written in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king; he reigned for sixteen years at Jerusalem. Jotham died and was buried in the City of David. His son Ahaz became the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, August 22, 2016
Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1–13
Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.
6-10 The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.
11-12 These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
INSIGHT:
Paul tells us that the temptation to do evil is common. But God in His goodness has provided a way to escape sin. More often than not it’s best to plan an escape route before we encounter temptation. It is wise to avoid those circumstances where we are most vulnerable to sin.
At Risk of Falling
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12
When my friend Elaine was recovering after a bad fall, a hospital worker placed a bright yellow bracelet on her wrist. It read: Fall Risk. That phrase meant: Watch this person carefully. She may be unsteady on her feet. Help her get from place to place.
First Corinthians 10 contains something like a “Fall Risk” warning for believers. With a glance back at his ancestors, Paul noted the human potential to fall into sin. The Israelites complained, worshiped idols, and had immoral relationships. God grew unhappy with them and allowed them to experience consequences for their wrongdoing. However, Paul said, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us . . . . So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (vv. 11–12).
If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12
It’s easy to trick ourselves into believing that we’re done with a particular sort of sin. Even when we’ve struggled through the worst of it—admitting our problem, repenting, and recommitting ourselves to following God’s ways—temptation may come calling. God makes it possible for us to avoid falling back into the same patterns. He does this by providing a way out of the sinful act we’re considering. Our part is to respond to His offer of escape.
Lord, let me see the way of escape You offer when I am tempted. Give me the strength to accept Your help so I can stay faithful to You. I know this is Your desire for me, and I thank You that You are at work in me.
Great blessings are often followed by great temptations.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, August 22, 2016
“I Indeed. . . But He”
I indeed baptize you with water…but He…will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. —Matthew 3:11
Have I ever come to the point in my life where I can say, “I indeed…but He…”? Until that moment comes, I will never know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means. I indeed am at the end, and I cannot do anything more— but He begins right there— He does the things that no one else can ever do. Am I prepared for His coming? Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.
Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance.
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. “He will baptize you….” The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute unworthiness.
“I indeed” was this in the past, “but He” came and something miraculous happened. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, August 22, 2016
The Slippery Slope Called Success - #7726
Well, those of us who were alive then didn't know it then, but we sure know it now. President Richard Nixon had a lot he was trying to cover up. And when investigators asked for documents or information, they were consistently denied it on the basis of two words that the President and his people continually fell back on, and other presidents have since – "executive privilege." In other words, based on my position, I don't have to do what other people have to do. I don't have to play by the same rules. It didn't work for President Nixon. It won't work for you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Slippery Slope Called Success."
There are plenty of people who have never used the phrase "executive privilege" who seem to live as if it applies to them. Someone who's had some success in business, in sports, or in ministry. When you're looked to, when you've got a position of influence and authority, it's easy to start believing that you don't have to play by all the rules, and that you have the right to do some things, to cut some corners, to take some liberties that others don't have. I think the word's "entitlement". It's part of why success is so dangerous and why success has ruined so many people.
God anticipated that might happen to the leaders of His own people in Old Testament days. So He gave the people He called "kings" some specific directions to avoid being ruined by power and position. What He told them rings just as true today for any of us who, because of some success in some area of our life, might be sort of a "king" in our little world. Here, in our word for today from the Word of God, is how to keep success from becoming a mess.
Deuteronomy 17, beginning with verse 18, says, "When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law...It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time."
So God said that when a person is on top, they need to actually write out the Word of God for themselves and keep it with them at all times, because success doesn't make you less responsible. In fact, it makes you more responsible, more accountable. As Jesus said, "To whom much is given, (I'll bet you know the rest of it.) much is required" (Luke 12:48). The boundaries are more important for you to observe than for anyone else because you have more to lose and you have more people you'll bring down with you. Two dangers cited in these verses: first, thinking you're above the rules; second, thinking you're above other people. Either one of those will force the One who gave you your success to take it away in order to save your soul.
The Jewish king, Uzziah, was one of their greatest. What the Bible says of him can be said of you: "As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success...He was greatly helped until he became powerful. But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall" (2 Chronicles 26:5, 15-16). He went on to take liberties that no man could take, and he came under the awful judgment from God and he lost it all.
When you've been winning, you're vulnerable to pride, to being a controller, to accumulating glory and goodies instead of giving it to the Lord, and to thinking you can ignore the ways of God without facing the judgment of God. No way that's going to happen. If God trusts you with success, don't ruin it by letting it inflate you or make you spiritually careless. Immerse yourself in God's Word. Set the moral bar higher for yourself than it's ever been.
The only executive privilege you have is the privilege of honoring God and blessing others with the success that He's given to you.