Max Lucado Daily: YOUR SERMON
If Jesus heals you instantly, praise him. If you are still waiting for healing, trust him. Your suffering is your sermon.
My friend Jim has battled a muscular condition for much of his adult life. The atrophy slurs his speech and impairs his walk. But it does not diminish his faith or erase his smile. One Sunday we had asked church members to park in the back and leave the closest parking spots for guests. When I arrived, I saw Jim. He had parked in the distant corner and was walking toward the sanctuary. We didn’t mean for you to park far away, I wanted to say.
Jim’s life is an example. I pray that God will heal his body. But until he does, God is using Jim to inspire people like me. God will use your struggle to change others. God can use your suffering as your sermon!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 30
Then Hezekiah invited all of Israel and Judah, with personal letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to The Temple of God in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God. The king and his officials and the congregation in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate Passover in the second month. They hadn’t been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough of the priests were yet personally prepared and the people hadn’t had time to gather in Jerusalem. Under these circumstances, the revised date was approved by both king and people and they sent out the invitation from one end of the country to the other, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north: “Come and celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God in Jerusalem.” No one living had ever celebrated it properly.
6-9 The king gave the orders, and the couriers delivered the invitations from the king and his leaders throughout Israel and Judah. The invitation read: “O Israelites! Come back to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he can return to you who have survived the predations of the kings of Assyria. Don’t repeat the sins of your ancestors who turned their backs on God, the God of their ancestors who then brought them to ruin—you can see the ruins all around you. Don’t be pigheaded as your ancestors were. Clasp God’s outstretched hand. Come to his Temple of holy worship, consecrated for all time. Serve God, your God. You’ll no longer be in danger of his hot anger. If you come back to God, your captive relatives and children will be treated compassionately and allowed to come home. Your God is gracious and kind and won’t snub you—come back and he’ll welcome you with open arms.”
10-12 So the couriers set out, going from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far north as Zebulun. But the people poked fun at them, treated them as a joke. But not all; some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren’t too proud to accept the invitation and come to Jerusalem. It was better in Judah—God worked powerfully among them to make it unanimous, responding to the orders sent out by the king and his officials, orders backed up by the word of God.
13-17 It turned out that there was a tremendous crowd of people when the time came in the second month to celebrate the Passover (sometimes called the Feast of Unraised Bread). First they went to work and got rid of all the pagan altars that were in Jerusalem—hauled them off and dumped them in the Kidron Valley. Then, on the fourteenth day of the second month, they slaughtered the Passover lambs. The priests and Levites weren’t ready; but now, embarrassed in their laziness, they consecrated themselves and brought Whole-Burnt-Offerings to The Temple of God. Ready now, they stood at their posts as designated by The Revelation of Moses the holy man; the priests sprinkled the blood the Levites handed to them. Because so many in the congregation had not properly prepared themselves by consecration and so were not qualified, the Levites took charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs so that they would be properly consecrated to God.
18-19 There were a lot of people, especially those from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, who did not eat the Passover meal because they had not prepared themselves adequately. Hezekiah prayed for these as follows: “May God who is all good, pardon and forgive everyone who sincerely desires God, the God of our ancestors. Even—especially!—these who do not meet the literal conditions stated for access to The Temple.”
20 God responded to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people.
21-22 All the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated the Passover (Feast of Unraised Bread) for seven days, celebrated exuberantly. The Levites and priests praised God day after day, filling the air with praise sounds of percussion and brass. Hezekiah commended the Levites for the superb way in which they had led the people in the worship of God.
22-23 When the feast and festival—that glorious seven days of worship, the making of offerings, and the praising of God, the God of their ancestors—were over, the tables cleared and the floors swept, they all decided to keep going for another seven days! So they just kept on celebrating, and as joyfully as they began.
24-26 Hezekiah king of Judah gave one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the congregation’s worship; the officials gave an additional one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. And there turned out to be plenty of consecrated priests—qualified and well-prepared. The whole congregation of Judah, the priests and Levites, the congregation that came in from Israel, and the resident aliens from both Israel and Judah, were all in on the joyous celebration. Jerusalem was bursting with joy—nothing like this had taken place in Jerusalem since Solomon son of David king of Israel had built and dedicated The Temple.
27 The priests and Levites had the last word: they stood and blessed the people. And God listened, listened as the ascending sound of their prayers entered his holy heaven.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, August 26, 2016
Read: 1 Peter 2:9–12
0 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.
11-12 Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.
INSIGHT:
The apostle Peter wrote this letter to encourage Jewish and Gentile Christians in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) who were going through severe trials and suffering because of their faith in Jesus. Peter says that for the Christian, trials and suffering are inevitable and to be expected (1 Peter 4:12), although often unreasonable, unjust, and inexplicable (2:19–20). But these difficulties can be valuable to the believer and therefore glorifying to God (1:6–7). Although they are universal, they are certainly temporal (5:9–10). Peter calls us to rejoice in our trials because we participate not only in Christ’s suffering but also in His glory (1:7; 4:13).
Honorable Living
By Lawrence Darmani
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. 1 Peter 2:9
While delivering a well-publicized speech, a respected leader and statesman got the attention of his nation by declaring that most of his country’s honorable Members of Parliament (MPs) were quite dishonorable. Citing lifestyles of corruption, pompous attitudes, unsavory language, and other vices, he rebuked the MPs and urged them to reform. As expected, his comments didn’t go well with them and they dispatched counter-criticisms his way.
We may not be public officials in positions of leadership, but we who follow Christ are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9). As such, our Lord calls us to lifestyles that honor Him.
We honor God’s name when we call Him our Father and live like His children.
The disciple Peter had some practical advice on how to do this. He urged us to “abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul” (v. 11). Although he didn’t use the word honorable, he was calling us to behavior worthy of Christ.
As the apostle Paul phrased it in his letter to the Philippians, “Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). Indeed, these are the characteristics of behavior that honor our Lord.
Lord, when we are honest with You, we understand how often we fall far short of honorable behavior. We know how much we need You. By Your Spirit, help us replace any selfish thoughts, words, and actions with things that please You and draw others to You.
We honor God’s name when we call Him our Father and live like His children.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, August 26, 2016
Are You Ever Troubled?
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you… —John 14:27
There are times in our lives when our peace is based simply on our own ignorance. But when we are awakened to the realities of life, true inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When our Lord speaks peace, He creates peace, because the words that He speaks are always “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? “…My peace I give to you…”— a peace that comes from looking into His face and fully understanding and receiving His quiet contentment.
Are you severely troubled right now? Are you afraid and confused by the waves and the turbulence God sovereignly allows to enter your life? Have you left no stone of your faith unturned, yet still not found any well of peace, joy, or comfort? Does your life seem completely barren to you? Then look up and receive the quiet contentment of the Lord Jesus. Reflecting His peace is proof that you are right with God, because you are exhibiting the freedom to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. Allowing anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you either causes you to become troubled or gives you a false sense of security.
With regard to the problem that is pressing in on you right now, are you “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) and receiving peace from Him? If so, He will be a gracious blessing of peace exhibited in and through you. But if you only try to worry your way out of the problem, you destroy His effectiveness in you, and you deserve whatever you get. We become troubled because we have not been taking Him into account. When a person confers with Jesus Christ, the confusion stops, because there is no confusion in Him. Lay everything out before Him, and when you are faced with difficulty, bereavement, and sorrow, listen to Him say, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself. The Moral Foundations of Life, 728 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, August 26, 2016
A Thousand Teachers - #7730
I've been going to the barber for many years – and giving him increasingly less to work with. But one day I chastised him for actually throwing away all that good hair on the floor. You know, some of us could use that stuff! Well, anyway, Steve has been a barber for over 50 years – he's a craftsman at what he does. His dad came to America as an immigrant and made a living as a barber. So Steve literally grew up in a barber shop. Now, as he was cutting my hair one day – both of them – I learned how he became so good at what he does. He said, "Different men would come to my father's shop to cut hair, and I tried to learn something from each one of them. Each one had something different that you could learn from him."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Thousand Teachers."
Now looking at everyone you meet as someone from whom you learn something, that's an outlook that can make you a millionaire – spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally. Our word for today from the Word of God actually defines major differences between a wise person and foolish person. We're beginning with Proverbs 9:8, "Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer." OK, one person is teachable, and therefore wise and therefore enjoying rewards. Another person is not teachable, therefore not wise and therefore suffering.
Life is exciting when you look at each person you're with as someone you can learn something from. Like my barber realized watching those men cutting hair in his father's shop, each person has something different to show you. A while back, I met a man who was a surveyor. I said, "What makes someone a good surveyor?" so maybe I could find a life principle. I also met a man who's a consultant to real estate developers, so I asked him, "What's the most common mistake real estate developers make?" And he said, "Well, they stay with a bad thing too long." I thought that was a good standard by which to evaluate a lot of things in life.
One practical facet of humility is teachability – the open-hearted attitude that "I don't have all the answers." You can learn so much from a Christian who's different from you – they probably have a window on God that has shown them something you may have missed from your window. You can learn so much from children. In fact, their perspective on life is one Jesus told us we should all have. You can learn so much from your critics, even though it's not much fun. Your critic sees something that might be a blind spot for you. Even if it's only 10% right, consider that 10%. There must be something there that makes your critic reach that conclusion.
If you're married, I hope you're letting your mate be your mirror, your teacher. If you'll lower your defenses and stifle your pride, you'll find your husband or wife has so much to give you. You can learn from your parents if you'll just listen and ask questions. Listen to your family; learn from your family. God gave them to you for them to learn from you, and for you to learn from them.
I wonder if the people around you would call you a teachable person, or a person who is stubborn and closed and always talking, seldom listening? Open up your heart, open your life to the people around you. Let them be your teachers. You'll get something different from each one, like a bee gathering pollen from each flower. And people will think you're really smart because you treat them as if they're smart.
Life is boring when you're standing still. The man or woman who sees every person as someone to learn from...they're never standing still. The wisest people in the world get that way from opening up to a thousand teachers!