Max Lucado Daily: SET YOUR MIND ON A HOLY CAUSE
If your problems are great, then your cause is too small. When your cause is great, your problems begin to shrink. Do you have a holy cause? A faith worth preserving? A mission worth living for? Ask God to give you a cause to claim to his glory: an orphanage to serve…a neighbor to encourage…a class to teach. It really is better to give than to receive.
Want to see your troubles evaporate? Help others with theirs. You’ll always face troubles, but you don’t have to face them in the same way. Instead, immerse your mind in God thoughts. Turn a deaf ear to doubters and set your mind on a holy cause. Once you find your mountain, no giant will stop you; no age will disqualify you; and no problems will defeat you.
From God is With You Every Day
Hebrews 1
1-3 Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!
The Son Is Higher than Angels
3-6 After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God, far higher than any angel in rank and rule. Did God ever say to an angel, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you” or “I’m his Father, he’s my Son”? When he presents his honored Son to the world, he says, “All angels must worship him.”
7 Regarding angels he says,
The messengers are winds,
the servants are tongues of fire.
8-9 But he says to the Son,
You’re God, and on the throne for good;
your rule makes everything right.
You love it when things are right;
you hate it when things are wrong.
That is why God, your God,
poured fragrant oil on your head,
Marking you out as king,
far above your dear companions.
10-12 And again to the Son,
You, Master, started it all, laid earth’s foundations,
then crafted the stars in the sky.
Earth and sky will wear out, but not you;
they become threadbare like an old coat;
You’ll fold them up like a worn-out cloak,
and lay them away on the shelf.
But you’ll stay the same, year after year;
you’ll never fade, you’ll never wear out.
13 And did he ever say anything like this to an angel?
Sit alongside me here on my throne
Until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.
14 Isn’t it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 06, 2017
Read: Job 23:1–12 |
I’m Completely in the Dark
1-7 Job replied:
“I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground.
My complaint is legitimate.
God has no right to treat me like this—
it isn’t fair!
If I knew where on earth to find him,
I’d go straight to him.
I’d lay my case before him face-to-face,
give him all my arguments firsthand.
I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking,
discover what’s going on in his head.
Do you think he’d dismiss me or bully me?
No, he’d take me seriously.
He’d see a straight-living man standing before him;
my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.
8-9 “I travel East looking for him—I find no one;
then West, but not a trace;
I go North, but he’s hidden his tracks;
then South, but not even a glimpse.
10-12 “But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.
He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test
with honors.
I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints,
not once swerving from his way.
I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken,
and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it.
INSIGHT:
In today’s passage, Job responds to the accusations brought by his friend Eliphaz, who sarcastically asks whether Job thinks God is judging him because of his reverence for Him (22:4). Eliphaz insists that Job is suffering for a hidden scandal (v. 5). With assumptions but no evidence, he explains Job’s troubles by accusing him of being a self-centered rich man who has mistreated weak people for his own material gain. And so Job expresses his desire to be able to argue his case before God (ch. 23). The wrong assumptions of his friends have become part of the fire that is testing and refining him (v. 10). Do we have the courage to express our honest questions and true feelings to the Lord?
Tried and Purified
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Job 23:10
During an interview, singer and songwriter Meredith Andrews spoke about being overwhelmed as she tried to balance outreach, creative work, marital issues, and motherhood. Reflecting on her distress, she said, “I felt like God was taking me through a refining season, almost through a crushing process.”
Job was overwhelmed after losing his livelihood, his health, and his family. Worse still, although Job had been a daily worshiper of God, he felt that the Lord was ignoring his pleas for help. God seemed absent from the landscape of his life. Job claimed he could not see God whether he looked to the north, south, east, or west (Job 23:2–9).
Lord, I surrender myself to Your purposes.
In the middle of his despair, Job had a moment of clarity. His faith flickered to life like a candle in a dark room. He said, “[God] knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (v. 10). Christians are tried and purified when God uses difficulty to burn away our self-reliance, pride, and earthly wisdom. If it seems as if God is silent during this process and He is not answering our cries for help, He may be giving us an opportunity to grow stronger in our faith.
Pain and problems can produce the shining, rock-solid character that comes from trusting God when life is hard.
Dear Lord, help me to believe that You are with me, even when I can’t see You working in my life. I surrender myself to Your purpose for any suffering I may endure.
Faith-testing times can be faith-strengthening times.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 06, 2017
Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering? (2)
I am already being poured out as a drink offering… —2 Timothy 4:6
Are you ready to be poured out as an offering? It is an act of your will, not your emotions. Tell God you are ready to be offered as a sacrifice for Him. Then accept the consequences as they come, without any complaints, in spite of what God may send your way. God sends you through a crisis in private, where no other person can help you. From the outside your life may appear to be the same, but the difference is taking place in your will. Once you have experienced the crisis in your will, you will take no thought of the cost when it begins to affect you externally. If you don’t deal with God on the level of your will first, the result will be only to arouse sympathy for yourself.
“Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:27). You must be willing to be placed on the altar and go through the fire; willing to experience what the altar represents— burning, purification, and separation for only one purpose— the elimination of every desire and affection not grounded in or directed toward God. But you don’t eliminate it, God does. You “bind the sacrifice…to the horns of the altar” and see to it that you don’t wallow in self-pity once the fire begins. After you have gone through the fire, there will be nothing that will be able to trouble or depress you. When another crisis arises, you will realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What fire lies ahead in your life?
Tell God you are ready to be poured out as an offering, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 06, 2017
As Far As You Can Go Safely - #7846
The Garden of the Gods in Colorado is one of the most beautiful spots in America. And God has allowed the Navigators ministry to have their headquarters right there. My first time there was for a national committee meeting, where they really worked us hard. But finally someone suggested a hike to the waterfall. They told me this was some of the most beautiful, spectacular scenery around these parts. And being a rookie on the committee, little did I suspect this was also an initiation. Our walk started out on a nice path that ran next to this roaring mountain stream, and it was really roaring from the recent snowmelt in the mountains. Finally, we walked to this dead-end where there was only a rock wall in front of us. I said, "Where's the waterfall?" "Over there," they said, and they pointed across the stream. I asked the obvious question, "How do you get to it?” There was no bridge. Well, they pointed to this narrow pipe that spanned the stream and they said, "You cross the pipeline." I said, "You cross the pipeline!" They’re expecting me to balance myself on this little pipe and walk across this roaring stream? But that was the only way to get to the incredible beauty on the other side!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “As Far As You Can Go Safely.”
Standing on the edge of that roaring stream, I realized I had gone as far as I could go safely and so have you. It may very well be that God has led you to a point where He is asking you to move beyond where you feel safe. On the other side are some exciting new discoveries, things your heart really is hungry for. You're at the pipeline. By the way, I crossed the pipeline and it was everything they said it would be. And I crossed it a few times after that, too.
You know, Abraham was at the pipeline in his life. In our word for today from the Word of God, Genesis 12:1-4: "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people, your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you." Notice His first word to Abram—leave. Leave all your comfort, leave all your security blankets and let Me take you into a place I will show you. What God did in Abraham's life, He does in the lives of all His children. God brings you to the point where you've gone as far as you can go safely, comfortably. Now He wants you to cross the pipeline.
God tells Abram what's on the other side. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing." That's pretty spectacular scenery, but not if you stay on your side of the comfort zone.
The Bible says, "So Abram left, as the Lord had told him" and Abram crossed the pipeline. I did that day in Colorado. The beauty I saw on the other side was worth the risk I took. When Abram moved beyond safety, his life took off like he could have never dreamed. God wants to do something like that for you. But first you'll have to trust Him enough to cross the pipeline.
But you're looking at the "what ifs" and the "coulds" and a lot of unanswered questions. And maybe you're holding back from the step that your Lord is clearly asking you to take. In a sense, could you be addicted to comfort? And those who are addicted to comfort, will sooner or later, miss the will of God. You might be at the threshold. Remember, this Jesus you follow left the most comfortable place in all the universe for the most uncomfortable place in all the universe—the cross. But on the other side, the glory of the resurrection and the rescue of millions like you and me.
Now that Jesus is asking you to step beyond your comfort zone into a bold and beautiful place you can only get to one way—by crossing the pipeline. You've gone as far as you can go safely. Don't miss what's on the other side. If you’ll look on the other side, that's Jesus beckoning to you to come follow Him.