Max Lucado Daily: WHAT GOD IS DOING
Changing direction in life is not tragic—but losing passion in life is! Something happens along the way. Convictions to change the world downgrade to commitments to pay the bills. Rather than make a difference, we make a salary. Rather than look outward, we look inward. And we don’t like what we see!
But God is not finished with you yet. Oh you may think he is. You may think you’ve peaked. You may think he’s got someone else to do the job. If so, think again! The Bible says, “God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again” (Philippians 1:6 NCV).
Did you see what God is doing? A good work in you! Did you see when he will be finished? When Jesus Christ comes again. May I spell out the message? God ain’t finished with you yet!
Read more When God Whispers Your Name
Revelation 11
The Two Witnesses
I was given a stick for a measuring rod and told, “Get up and measure God’s Temple and Altar and everyone worshiping in it. Exclude the outside court; don’t measure it. It’s been handed over to non-Jewish outsiders. They’ll desecrate the Holy City for forty-two months.
3-6 “Meanwhile, I’ll provide my two Witnesses. Dressed in sackcloth, they’ll prophesy for 1,260 days. These are the two Olive Trees, the two Lampstands, standing at attention before God on earth. If anyone tries to hurt them, a blast of fire from their mouths will incinerate them—burn them to a crisp just like that. They’ll have power to seal the sky so that it doesn’t rain for the time of their prophesying, power to turn rivers and springs to blood, power to hit earth with any and every disaster as often as they want.
7-10 “When they’ve completed their witness, the Beast from the Abyss will emerge and fight them, conquer and kill them, leaving their corpses exposed on the street of the Great City spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, the same City where their Master was crucified. For three and a half days they’ll be there—exposed, prevented from getting a decent burial, stared at by the curious from all over the world. Those people will cheer at the spectacle, shouting ‘Good riddance!’ and calling for a celebration, for these two prophets pricked the conscience of all the people on earth, made it impossible for them to enjoy their sins.
11 “Then, after three and a half days, the Living Spirit of God will enter them—they’re on their feet!—and all those gloating spectators will be scared to death.”
12-13 I heard a strong voice out of Heaven calling, “Come up here!” and up they went to Heaven, wrapped in a cloud, their enemies watching it all. At that moment there was a gigantic earthquake—a tenth of the city fell to ruin, seven thousand perished in the earthquake, the rest frightened to the core of their being, frightened into giving honor to the God-of-Heaven.
14 The second doom is past, the third doom coming right on its heels.
The Last Trumpet Sounds
15-18 The seventh Angel trumpeted. A crescendo of voices in Heaven sang out,
The kingdom of the world is now
the Kingdom of our God and his Messiah!
He will rule forever and ever!
The Twenty-four Elders seated before God on their thrones fell to their knees, worshiped, and sang,
We thank you, O God, Sovereign-Strong,
Who Is and Who Was.
You took your great power
and took over—reigned!
The angry nations now
get a taste of your anger.
The time has come to judge the dead,
to reward your servants, all prophets and saints,
Reward small and great who fear your Name,
and destroy the destroyers of earth.
19 The doors of God’s Temple in Heaven flew open, and the Ark of his Covenant was clearly seen surrounded by flashes of lightning, loud shouts, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a fierce hailstorm.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, August 07, 2017
Read: Mark 10:28–31; John 10:9–10
Peter tried another angle: “We left everything and followed you.”
29-31 Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first.”
John 10:9-10
6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
INSIGHT:
The young man in Mark 10 believed he had earned a place in heaven by trusting in his good works and wealth (Mark 10:17–20). Jesus corrected him and told him to give up his material wealth and to follow Him in order to have “treasure in heaven” (v. 21), but this young man was not willing to do this. When Peter bellowed, “We have left everything to follow you!” (v. 28), he was considering what it had cost him and his brother Andrew to follow Jesus. Peter and Andrew were at work when Jesus called them and “at once they left their nets and followed him” (1:17–18). Likewise brothers James and John left their father and their fishing trade (vv. 19–20). Jesus said, “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:39). This life, abundant and eternal, is to know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ” (John 17:3).
Life to the Full
By Monica Brands
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
When I stopped by to visit my sister’s family, my nephews eagerly showed me their new chore system, a set of Choropoly boards. Each colorful electronic board keeps track of their chores. A job well done means the kids can hit a green button, which adds points to their “spending” account. A misdeed like leaving the back door open results in a fine being deducted from the total. Since a high-points total leads to exciting rewards such as computer time—and misdeeds deduct from that total—my nephews are now unusually motivated to do their work and to keep the door closed!
The ingenious system had me joking that I wished I had such an exciting motivational tool! But of course God has given us motivation. Rather than simply commanding obedience, Jesus has promised that a life of following Him, while costly, is also a life of abundance, “life . . . to the full” (John 10:10). Experiencing life in His kingdom is worth “one hundred times” the cost—now and eternally (Mark 10:29–30).
Lord, help us to remember there is great meaning in following You and that it is all so worth it.
We can rejoice in the fact that we serve a generous God, One who does not reward and punish as we deserve. He generously accepts our weakest efforts—even welcoming and rewarding latecomers to His kingdom as generously as old-timers (see Matt. 20:1–16). In light of this reality, let us joyfully serve Him today.
Lord, help us to remember there is great meaning in following You and that it is all so worth it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, August 07, 2017
Prayer in the Father’s House
…they found Him in the temple….And He said to them, "…Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?" —Luke 2:46, 49
Our Lord’s childhood was not immaturity waiting to grow into manhood— His childhood is an eternal fact. Am I a holy, innocent child of God as a result of my identification with my Lord and Savior? Do I look at my life as being in my Father’s house? Is the Son of God living in His Father’s house within me?
The only abiding reality is God Himself, and His order comes to me moment by moment. Am I continually in touch with the reality of God, or do I pray only when things have gone wrong— when there is some disturbance in my life? I must learn to identify myself closely with my Lord in ways of holy fellowship and oneness that some of us have not yet even begun to learn. “…I must be about My Father’s business”— and I must learn to live every moment of my life in my Father’s house.
Think about your own circumstances. Are you so closely identified with the Lord’s life that you are simply a child of God, continually talking to Him and realizing that everything comes from His hands? Is the eternal Child in you living in His Father’s house? Is the grace of His ministering life being worked out through you in your home, your business, and in your circle of friends? Have you been wondering why you are going through certain circumstances? In fact, it is not that you have to go through them. It is because of your relationship with the Son of God who comes, through the providential will of His Father, into your life. You must allow Him to have His way with you, staying in perfect oneness with Him.
The life of your Lord is to become your vital, simple life, and the way He worked and lived among people while here on earth must be the way He works and lives in you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, August 07, 2017
No Spin On Sin - #7976
It's definitely the age of doctors who are specialists. Including one of the latest new specialties - the spin doctor. The spin doctor is actually to be found in the world of politics. As soon as some news breaks that might be damaging or embarrassing to a political leader or candidate, someone on their staff talks to the press about it - and they find a way to put a positive or undamaging "spin" on those revelations...to put their man or woman in the best possible light. The more powerful you become, the more "spin doctors" you need. And depending on how good the "doctor" is, a lot of people may end up believing the "spin" rather than the truth!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Spin On Sin."
These days "image" is often what matters more than the real condition. Except to God. When it comes to sin, there is no "spin" you can put on that. Nothing that's going to work with God.
Now, in the Old Testament, King Saul had been commanded by God to go perform spiritual surgery on the Amalekite nation that had openly defied God and morally poisoned many around them. God had promised that they would be destroyed, and He sent Saul and his army to fulfill that promise. They were to destroy everything, and keep nothing from their conquest. Saul didn't do everything God told him to do, but just like us, he tried to put a convincing spin on his sin.
According to our word for today from the Word of God from 1 Samuel 15 beginning at verse 13, as God's man Samuel approached, "Saul said. . . 'I have carried out the Lord's instructions.' But Samuel said, 'What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? And what is this lowing of cattle I hear?'"
Saul and his men had brought back some of the goodies that they were supposed to destroy. But does Saul confess he's disobeyed the Lord? Oh no! He comes out with a very positive testimony! "I've done what the Lord said." Great spin - not true. Oh, he had partially obeyed the Lord, but he tries to cover up his disobedience with impressive spiritual words. Some of us have learned just the right things to say in Christian settings haven't we? How to even give a pretty impressive testimony, but God knows that our spin is covering up some dark disobedience in our life.
When Samuel confronts the evidence of Saul's sin, Saul answers, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle...but we totally destroyed the rest." Spiritual words ... and now let's try to turn God's attention to what others are doing wrong. Let's talk about them, and maybe I can get off the hook. Let's pass the buck. God doesn't buy that anymore than He does those beautiful spiritual speeches.
Saul made one last try at being his own spin doctor. "'But I did obey the Lord,' Saul said. I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites...the soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God.'" How about this one! "I did this so we could do something really spiritual - have a big sacrifice to the Lord." We seem to think that if we get busy doing some great Christian things God may give us a pass on the sin we're covering up.
But God allows no spin on sin. Samuel answers, "To obey is better than sacrifice...Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king." (verses 22-23). God's message is clear. No amount of godly words...no pointing at the sins of others...no amount of spiritual activity can cover or make up for the sin that you have not repented of.
And if this message is meant for you, I believe you know that because God's Holy Spirit is letting you know what sin that is. Living in an age where image is what matters and a good spin can rescue you from the ugly truth, you may have hoped that might work for you with God. It didn't work for God's chosen king of His people ... and it isn't going to work for you.
It's time to bring that sin to the foot of Jesus' cross where He died for it...and dump it all out at Jesus' feet. A spin on your sin never fools God...it just deceives you into thinking that you're getting away with what God will surely judge.
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