Max Lucado Daily: THE PURE GENIUS OF GOD’S PLAN
There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
Consider the genius of God’s plan. The first generation of Christians was a tinderbox of contrasting cultures and backgrounds. At least 15 different nationalities heard Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. Jews stood next to Gentiles and men worshipped with women. Can people of such varied backgrounds and cultures get along with each other?
We wonder the same today? Can Democrats find common ground with Republicans? Can a Christian family carry on a civil friendship with the Muslim couple down the street? The early church did—without church buildings, clergy or seminaries. . .through the clearest of messages—the cross. The simplest of tools—the home! God’s plan of peace? It’s pure genius!
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 32
Safe Houses, Quiet Gardens
But look! A king will rule in the right way,
and his leaders will carry out justice.
Each one will stand as a shelter from high winds,
provide safe cover in stormy weather.
Each will be cool running water in parched land,
a huge granite outcrop giving shade in the desert.
Anyone who looks will see,
anyone who listens will hear.
The impulsive will make sound decisions,
the tongue-tied will speak with eloquence.
No more will fools become celebrities,
nor crooks be rewarded with fame.
For fools are fools and that’s that,
thinking up new ways to do mischief.
They leave a wake of wrecked lives
and lies about God,
Turning their backs on the homeless hungry,
ignoring those dying of thirst in the streets.
And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are,
inventive in sin and scandal,
Exploiting the poor with scams and lies,
unmoved by the victimized poor.
But those who are noble make noble plans,
and stand for what is noble.
9-14 Take your stand, indolent women!
Listen to me!
Indulgent, indolent women,
listen closely to what I have to say.
In just a little over a year from now,
you’ll be shaken out of your lazy lives.
The grape harvest will fail,
and there’ll be no fruit on the trees.
Oh tremble, you indolent women.
Get serious, you pampered dolls!
Strip down and discard your silk fineries.
Put on funeral clothes.
Shed honest tears for the lost harvest,
the failed vintage.
Weep for my people’s gardens and farms
that grow nothing but thistles and thornbushes.
Cry tears, real tears, for the happy homes no longer happy,
the merry city no longer merry.
The royal palace is deserted,
the bustling city quiet as a morgue,
The emptied parks and playgrounds
taken over by wild animals,
delighted with their new home.
15-20 Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured
down on us from above
And the badlands desert grows crops
and the fertile fields become forests.
Justice will move into the badlands desert.
Right will build a home in the fertile field.
And where there’s Right, there’ll be Peace
and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust.
My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood—
in safe houses, in quiet gardens.
The forest of your pride will be clear-cut,
the city showing off your power leveled.
But you will enjoy a blessed life,
planting well-watered fields and gardens,
with your farm animals grazing freely.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, October 04, 2016
Read: Psalm 146
Hallelujah!
O my soul, praise God!
All my life long I’ll praise God,
singing songs to my God as long as I live.
3-9 Don’t put your life in the hands of experts
who know nothing of life, of salvation life.
Mere humans don’t have what it takes;
when they die, their projects die with them.
Instead, get help from the God of Jacob,
put your hope in God and know real blessing!
God made sky and soil,
sea and all the fish in it.
He always does what he says—
he defends the wronged,
he feeds the hungry.
God frees prisoners—
he gives sight to the blind,
he lifts up the fallen.
God loves good people, protects strangers,
takes the side of orphans and widows,
but makes short work of the wicked.
10 God’s in charge—always.
Zion’s God is God for good!
Hallelujah!
INSIGHT:
Psalm 146 underscores the truth that the poor and marginalized have a special place in the heart of God. Our help does not come from earthly rulers but from the Maker of heaven and earth. When God became a Man in the person of Jesus Christ, He made the marginalized and the broken a central focus of His earthly ministry.
Setting Prisoners Free
By Bill Crowder
The Lord sets prisoners free. Psalm 146:7
When my wife and I visited the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force near Savannah, Georgia, we were especially moved by the prisoner-of-war exhibit, with its re-creation of a German prisoner-of-war camp’s barracks. Marlene’s dad, Jim, served in the Eighth Air Force, the “Mighty Eighth,” as they flew missions over Europe during World War II. During the war, the Eighth Air Force suffered over 47,000 injuries and more than 26,000 deaths. Jim was one of those shot down and held as a prisoner of war. As we walked through the exhibit, we recalled Jim telling about the absolute joy he and his fellow prisoners felt the day they were set free.
God’s care for the oppressed and liberation of the imprisoned are declared in Psalm 146. The psalmist describes the one who “upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry,” who “sets prisoners free” (v. 7). All of this is cause for celebration and praise. But the greatest freedom of all is freedom from our guilt and shame. No wonder Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
The Lord sets prisoners free. Psalm 146:7
Through Christ’s sacrifice, we are set free from the prison of sin to know His joy and love and the freedom that only forgiveness can bring.
To read more about what Christ did to set us free, read The Mockery and Majesty of the Cross at discoveryseries.org/hp081.
The prison of sin cannot withstand the power of Christ’s forgiveness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, October 04, 2016
The Vision and The Reality
…to those who are…called to be saints… —1 Corinthians 1:2
Thank God for being able to see all that you have not yet been. You have had the vision, but you are not yet to the reality of it by any means. It is when we are in the valley, where we prove whether we will be the choice ones, that most of us turn back. We are not quite prepared for the bumps and bruises that must come if we are going to be turned into the shape of the vision. We have seen what we are not, and what God wants us to be, but are we willing to be battered into the shape of the vision to be used by God? The beatings will always come in the most common, everyday ways and through common, everyday people.
There are times when we do know what God’s purpose is; whether we will let the vision be turned into actual character depends on us, not on God. If we prefer to relax on the mountaintop and live in the memory of the vision, then we will be of no real use in the ordinary things of which human life is made. We have to learn to live in reliance upon what we saw in the vision, not simply live in ecstatic delight and conscious reflection upon God. This means living the realities of our lives in the light of the vision until the truth of the vision is actually realized in us. Every bit of our training is in that direction. Learn to thank God for making His demands known.
Our little “I am” always sulks and pouts when God says do. Let your little “I am” be shriveled up in God’s wrath and indignation— “I AM WHO I AM…has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). He must dominate. Isn’t it piercing to realize that God not only knows where we live, but also knows the gutters into which we crawl! He will hunt us down as fast as a flash of lightning. No human being knows human beings as God does.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them. Biblical Psychology, 189 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, October 04, 2016
Bad News From a Good Friend - #7757
When you eat in a hurry you sometimes leave some traces of the meal on your face, and you sort of wear your food. There are some crumbs maybe, or some tomato sauce, or this little spot of chocolate. Of course, you don't know it.
Now I have to eat on the run a lot of times, and that means sometimes you might be able to tell. Of course, I don't mean to carry it around with me. I mean, you know, my wife or my son in the past have told me that, "You know, you've got food on your face!" Well, I want to tell you it's embarrassing to hear, but I need to hear it. Of course I don't always say "thank you" to them. Sometimes I'll just say, "Oh, yeah, you know, I'm saving it for later." Yeah, right! Which doesn't seem to please them, but I have to say that I do clean it up after someone points it out to me. Of course, if I'm not looking my best, I'd rather hear it from someone who cares about me, right?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "Bad News From a Good Friend."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 27:6 and here is what it says, "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." Now I don't like that word "wounds" first of all, do you? It's not a pleasurable word. But it says, "The wounds from a friend can be trusted." What makes these wounds bearable, this bad news that they're giving us, is that it's from someone who cares about us.
You know, it's like when someone in my family says, "Ron you've got food on your face," or someone you care about says, "Excuse me, but um, do you know you're unbuttoned?" or, "you're unzipped", or, "you've got a spot there." Now, look, do you like hearing that? No, it's not fun to hear it. But wouldn't you rather know than not know? Would you like those who love you to tell you even if it's not fun hearing it? Well, of course you would!
See, what's more important, is when we have emotional or spiritual (shall we say) food on our face. Our personality is unzipped, our personality is unbuttoned. If you care about someone, you will lovingly tell that person even the unpleasant, inconvenient truth, and if you're smart you'll respond appreciatively to bad news that comes from a good friend.
Now we're talking about constructive criticism here, not tearing someone down, but constructive criticism. The responsibility of a Christian friend is to hold up a mirror and say, "Man, look at your strengths. Do you know what you've got going for you? I love it when you do that. I love it when you do that." Then at other times it's our responsibility to say, "You know, here's something that might slow you down, that might keep good things from happening." It's okay to point our weaknesses if you've pointed out strengths. First, you tell them about what they're doing right. But then there are gentle ways to tell them about the other part. "I'm not sure you know how this comes across. I'm afraid it might sound this way to other people. Can I just let you know how that is?" Or, "I'm concerned about what this could do if it keeps happening. That's why I want to tell you about it." "Look, this is going to be hard for me to say and it's going to be hard for you to hear, but you know what? I love you enough to tell you this." Don't let your friends self destruct because you're afraid to tell them the truth.
The Bible talks about speaking the truth in love. And it says to let your speech always be seasoned with grace. Now, when you're the one receiving the criticism, will you listen? Will you find the grace to thank them for telling you? Then weigh what they've said even if maybe they're only ten percent right. Maybe you should look at the ten percent.
Ask for their prayer to ask you to help change in that area. Someone just loved you enough to tell you what someone should have told you maybe a long time ago. Don't jump on your friend. Don't jump on your family member for holding up a mirror. Don't stone the messenger. Deal with what is in the mirror that they held up. Don't attack them. See, if you're not looking your best, it's good to know that, and to hear it from someone who loves you enough to tell you.