Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS IN CHARGE
It does twice as much good to think about God as it does to think about anyone or anything else. The more we focus up there, the more inspired we are down here.
The Psalmist said, Oh Magnify the Lord with me! (Psalm 34:3). When you magnify an object, you enlarge it so that you can understand it. When we magnify God, we do the same. We enlarge our awareness of him so we can understand him more. This is exactly what happens when we worship. We take our minds off ourselves and set them on God. I love the way the final phrase of the Lord’s Prayer as translated in The Message (Matthew 6:13):
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Could it be any simpler? God is in charge!
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 51
Committed to Seeking God
“Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living
and committed to seeking God.
Ponder the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug.
Yes, ponder Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who bore you.
Think of it! One solitary man when I called him,
but once I blessed him, he multiplied.
Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion,
comfort all her mounds of ruins.
I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden,
her moonscape into the garden of God,
A place filled with exuberance and laughter,
thankful voices and melodic songs.
4-6 “Pay attention, my people.
Listen to me, nations.
Revelation flows from me.
My decisions light up the world.
My deliverance arrives on the run,
my salvation right on time.
I’ll bring justice to the peoples.
Even faraway islands will look to me
and take hope in my saving power.
Look up at the skies,
ponder the earth under your feet.
The skies will fade out like smoke,
the earth will wear out like work pants,
and the people will die off like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.
7-8 “Listen now, you who know right from wrong,
you who hold my teaching inside you:
Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked
don’t let it get you down.
Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten,
from brains that are termite-ridden,
But my setting-things-right lasts,
my salvation goes on and on and on.”
9-11 Wake up, wake up, flex your muscles, God!
Wake up as in the old days, in the long ago.
Didn’t you once make mincemeat of Rahab,
dispatch the old chaos-dragon?
And didn’t you once dry up the sea,
the powerful waters of the deep,
And then made the bottom of the ocean a road
for the redeemed to walk across?
In the same way God’s ransomed will come back,
come back to Zion cheering, shouting,
Joy eternal wreathing their heads,
exuberant ecstasies transporting them—
and not a sign of moans or groans.
What Are You Afraid of—or Who?
12-16 “I, I’m the One comforting you.
What are you afraid of—or who?
Some man or woman who’ll soon be dead?
Some poor wretch destined for dust?
You’ve forgotten me, God, who made you,
who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth.
And here you are, quaking like an aspen
before the tantrums of a tyrant
who thinks he can kick down the world.
But what will come of the tantrums?
The victims will be released before you know it.
They’re not going to die.
They’re not even going to go hungry.
For I am God, your very own God,
who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
I teach you how to talk, word by word,
and personally watch over you,
Even while I’m unfurling the skies,
setting earth on solid foundations,
and greeting Zion: ‘Welcome, my people!’”
17-20 So wake up! Rub the sleep from your eyes!
Up on your feet, Jerusalem!
You’ve drunk the cup God handed you,
the strong drink of his anger.
You drank it down to the last drop,
staggered and collapsed, dead-drunk.
And nobody to help you home,
no one among your friends or children
to take you by the hand and put you in bed.
You’ve been hit with a double dose of trouble
—does anyone care?
Assault and battery, hunger and death
—will anyone comfort?
Your sons and daughters have passed out,
strewn in the streets like stunned rabbits,
Sleeping off the strong drink of God’s anger,
the rage of your God.
21-23 Therefore listen, please,
you with your splitting headaches,
You who are nursing the hangovers
that didn’t come from drinking wine.
Your Master, your God, has something to say,
your God has taken up his people’s case:
“Look, I’ve taken back the drink that sent you reeling.
No more drinking from that jug of my anger!
I’ve passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you,
‘Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!’
And you had to do it. Flat on the ground,
you were the dirt under their feet.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 31, 2016
Read: 1 Peter 1:3–9
A New Life
3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.
6-7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
8-9 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.
INSIGHT:
Revelation 21:15–21 describes heaven by referring to twelve sparkling, colorful gems and “gold as pure as transparent glass” (v. 21). Those who belong to Christ are heirs of heaven—it is called our “inheritance” (1 Peter 1:4). And we “are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (v. 5). Peter says that this reality fills the believer with “inexpressible and glorious joy” (v. 8). The Bible assures us that even though we “may have . . . to suffer grief in all kinds of trials,” we can be assured that even the worst imaginable pain or problem is only “for a little while” (v. 6).
It Never Runs Out
By Dave Branon
He has given us new birth into . . . an inheritance that can never perish. 1 Peter 1:3–4
When I asked a friend who is about to retire what she feared about her next stage of life, she said, “I want to make sure I don’t run out of money.” The next day as I was talking to my financial counselor he gave me advice on how I might avoid running out of money. Indeed, we all want the security of knowing we’ll have the resources we need for the rest of our lives.
No financial plan can provide an absolute guarantee of earthly security. But there is a plan that extends far beyond this life and indefinitely into the future. The apostle Peter describes it like this: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:3–4).
He has given us new birth into an inheritance that can never perish. 1 Peter 1:3–4
When we place our faith in Jesus to forgive our sins we receive an eternal inheritance through God’s power. Because of this inheritance, we’ll live forever and never run short of what we need.
Planning for retirement is a good idea if we’re able to do so. But more important is having an eternal inheritance that never runs out—and that is available only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Dear God, I want that assurance of an eternal inheritance—the certainty of everlasting life with You. I put my faith in Jesus to forgive my sins and make me His child. Thank You for saving me and reserving a place for me in Your eternal kingdom.
The promise of heaven is our eternal hope.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 31, 2016
The Trial of Faith
If you have faith as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you. —Matthew 17:20
We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.
Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 31, 2016
The Most Powerful Position On Earth - #7776
John Ashcroft was a United States Senator from Missouri and the committed follower of Jesus Christ, later to become the Attorney General in some of the most recent turbulent days in our country. When Dr. James Dobson interviewed him on his radio program, I was touched by the story Senator Ashcroft told about the day he was sworn into the Senate. He really wanted to be prayed into his new position that day, so he asked about 25 family members and close friends to join him in a room in the Capitol for a time of prayer before his inauguration into the Senate. Great idea! Senator Ashcroft asked his loved ones to stand in a circle around him in a time of dedicatory prayer.
The senator's father remained seated in a big chair because he had a heart condition – a serious one. It turned out that was to be his last day on earth. Believe it or not, the day his son became a United States Senator. The Lord took him to heaven on his way home from Washington. But as everyone stood in that prayer circle, Senator Ashcroft glanced over at his dad, only to see him trying to get up out of that big chair. He said, "Dad, you don't have to struggle to stand." To which his father replied, "Oh, I'm not struggling to stand, John. I'm struggling to kneel." Aren't we all?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Powerful Position On Earth."
Perhaps the most important question Jesus ever asked is, "Do you love Me? (John 21:15). If there is one person in the Gospels whose life shouts "Yes, I do!" it's Mary. The one who lived in a Jerusalem suburb called Bethany. And recently I noticed that there is something that always happens every time Mary is with Jesus.
Incident 1 - Luke 10 - Jesus comes for dinner at the home of Mary and her older sister Martha. While Martha is running around all stressed out over all she's got to do for Jesus, here's what the Bible says Mary is doing. "Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said." Where is Mary? At her Lord's feet, listening to His heart. And when Martha wants Jesus to tell Mary to get busy serving, Jesus says, "Martha, Mary has chosen what is better" (Luke 10:38-42).
Incident 2 - John 12 - A dinner is being given in Jesus' honor at Mary and Martha's house. Mary appears with a jar of expensive perfume, and the Bible says, "She poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair" (John 12:3). Again, Mary is at the feet of Jesus, kneeling, pouring out her love and her worship.
And then comes the darkest moment of her life to that point. Her beloved brother Lazarus dies. She has sent for Jesus to come heal her brother, but Jesus doesn't come in time. When He finally arrives, four days after the funeral, Mary's really struggling. But notice where we find her in our word for today from the Word of God in John 11:32, "When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet." And then after that came the awesome resurrection miracle of her brother.
Mary knows where we belong when we're with Jesus – at His feet; on our knees. She's at Jesus' feet to listen to what He says. Are you there each new day? She's at His feet, worshipping with a total surrender and amazement. We need that kind of lavish praise and worship regularly. And Mary is on her knees, at Jesus' feet with her struggle in her darkest hour; when life makes no sense, on your knees in front of Jesus is the only place to be.
It was a struggle for the Senator's father to kneel. It's a struggle spiritually and emotionally for some of us who are strong-willed, independent, make-it-happen, controlling type people. We resist being totally vulnerable, totally surrendered in front of Jesus. We just hate to lose control. Because of our pride and our hard heart, we are missing the amazingness of our Savior, the miracles He would love to do, and the deep intimacy with Christ that's reserved for those who are often at His feet with their worship, their questions, and their struggle.
It's not so much a struggle to stand next to Jesus or to do things for Jesus. We're still in control then. But it's a struggle to kneel. But as the Senator's father seemed to understand so deeply, this seemingly powerless position is the most powerful position on earth!
