Max Lucado Daily: THE GOD WHO NEVER LEAVES
When I was seven, I ran away from home. I’d had enough of my father’s rules—I could make it on my own, thank you very much! I didn’t go far. At the end of the alley I remembered I was hungry, so I went back home.
Did my dad know of my insurrection? Fathers usually do. Was I still his son? Apparently so. If you’d asked my father, “Mr. Lucado, your son says he has no need of a father. Do you still consider him your son?” What do you think my dad would have said? I don’t have to guess at his answer. His commitment to me was greater than my commitment to him. So is God’s! I can count on him to be in my corner no matter how I perform. You can too!
From Max on Life
Jeremiah 21
Start Each Day with a Sense of Justice
1-2 God’s Message to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to him with this request: “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has waged war against us. Pray to God for us. Ask him for help. Maybe God will intervene with one of his famous miracles and make him leave.”
3-7 But Jeremiah said, “Tell Zedekiah: ‘This is the God of Israel’s Message to you: You can say good-bye to your army, watch morale and weapons flushed down the drain. I’m going to personally lead the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, against whom you’re fighting so hard, right into the city itself. I’m joining their side and fighting against you, fighting all-out, holding nothing back. And in fierce anger. I’m prepared to wipe out the population of this city, people and animals alike, in a raging epidemic. And then I will personally deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his princes, and any survivors left in the city who haven’t died from disease, been killed, or starved. I’ll deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—yes, hand them over to their enemies, who have come to kill them. He’ll kill them ruthlessly, showing no mercy.’
8-10 “And then tell the people at large, ‘God’s Message to you is this: Listen carefully. I’m giving you a choice: life or death. Whoever stays in this city will die—either in battle or by starvation or disease. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who have surrounded the city will live. You’ll lose everything—but not your life. I’m determined to see this city destroyed. I’m that angry with this place! God’s Decree. I’m going to give it to the king of Babylon, and he’s going to burn it to the ground.’
11-14 “To the royal house of Judah, listen to God’s Message!
House of David, listen—God’s Message to you:
‘Start each day by dealing with justice.
Rescue victims from their exploiters.
Prevent fire—the fire of my anger—
for once it starts, it can’t be put out.
Your evil regime
is fuel for my anger.
Don’t you realize that I’m against you,
yes, against you.
You think you’ve got it made,
all snug and secure.
You say, “Who can possibly get to us?
Who can crash our party?”
Well, I can—and will!
I’ll punish your evil regime.
I’ll start a fire that will rage unchecked,
burn everything in sight to cinders.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, March 01, 2017
Read: Matthew 27:45–54
From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around midafternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
47-49 Some bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if Elijah comes and saves him.”
50 But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53 At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54 The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God!”
INSIGHT:
When the Lord Jesus Christ hung upon the cross, cosmic events accompanied by signs and wonders occurred between heaven and earth. A supernatural darkness came over the earth midday. Many theologians believe that for the first time in eternity past the fellowship between the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—was interrupted. As Christ took our sins upon Himself on the cross, His Father could not stay in fellowship with Him. An earthquake opened the tombs of some Old Testament believers, who were brought back to life. So dramatic were these events that even a Gentile, such as the Roman centurion who oversaw Jesus’s crucifixion, made a declaration of faith.
All of Me
By Tim Gustafson
Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1
Young Isaac Watts found the music in his church sadly lacking, and his father challenged him to create something better. Isaac did. His hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” has been called the greatest in the English language and has been translated into many other languages.
Watts’s worshipful third verse ushers us into the presence of Christ at the crucifixion.
“Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all.” —Isaac Watts
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
The crucifixion Watts describes so elegantly stands as history’s most awful moment. We do well to pause and stand with those around the cross. The Son of God strains for breath, held by crude spikes driven through His flesh. After tortured hours, a supernatural darkness descends. Finally, mercifully, the Lord of the universe dismisses His anguished spirit. An earthquake rattles the landscape. Back in the city the thick temple curtain rips in half. Graves open, and dead bodies resurrect, walking about the city (Matt. 27:51–53). These events compel the centurion who crucified Jesus to say, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (v. 54).
“The Cross reorders all values and cancels all vanities,” says the Poetry Foundation in commenting on Watts’s poem. The song could only conclude: “Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all.”
It is our privilege to give everything we have
to the One who gave us everything on the cross.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 01, 2017
The Piercing Question
Do you love Me? —John 21:17
Peter’s response to this piercing question is considerably different from the bold defiance he exhibited only a few days before when he declared, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:35; also see Matthew 26:33-34). Our natural individuality, or our natural self, boldly speaks out and declares its feelings. But the true love within our inner spiritual self can be discovered only by experiencing the hurt of this question of Jesus Christ. Peter loved Jesus in the way any natural man loves a good person. Yet that is nothing but emotional love. It may reach deeply into our natural self, but it never penetrates to the spirit of a person. True love never simply declares itself. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men [that is, confesses his love by everything he does, not merely by his words], him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8).
Unless we are experiencing the hurt of facing every deception about ourselves, we have hindered the work of the Word of God in our lives. The Word of God inflicts hurt on us more than sin ever could, because sin dulls our senses. But this question of the Lord intensifies our sensitivities to the point that this hurt produced by Jesus is the most exquisite pain conceivable. It hurts not only on the natural level, but also on the deeper spiritual level. “For the Word of God is living and powerful…, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit…”— to the point that no deception can remain (Hebrews 4:12). When the Lord asks us this question, it is impossible to think and respond properly, because when the Lord speaks directly to us, the pain is too intense. It causes such a tremendous hurt that any part of our life which may be out of line with His will can feel the pain. There is never any mistaking the pain of the Lord’s Word by His children, but the moment that pain is felt is the very moment at which God reveals His truth to us.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham. The Highest Good, 548 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 01, 2017
Foggy Roads and Changing Times - #7863
Zero visibility and I was driving in it. All I could think of was those disturbing images of fifty vehicles smooshed in some fog-caused pileup. Thankfully, I made it. But it is scary driving when you have no idea what's ahead. Which pretty much describes how a lot of folks feel about the times we're living in right now. I mean, as Bob Dylan said, "the times, they are a changing." We're just not sure where all the road's going.
Technologically, we're so empowered by technology, but we're potentially powerless if it all goes away. Politically, you've got a new President and that makes it hard to predict where the road's going to end up. Culturally, well we've got this "anything goes" world that has taken us into unmapped territory. Internationally, our enemies are flexing their muscles and they're flaunting their missiles.
And then there are the personal blows. Like the moment last spring when the love of my life was suddenly in eternity. I've driven every mile of my adult life with one person. Suddenly, she was gone. But, look, I'm not alone in this kind of stuff. Many of us have experienced how quickly the road can disappear in the fog. One doctor's visit. One drunk driver. One announcement from the boss. One call from the police. One impulse in your brain. One "it's over" from someone you love.
With so much changing, with so much that can change at any moment, security is elusive unless we prioritize the truly important things that the fog and the storm can't touch.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Foggy Roads and Changing Times."
What are some of those things that fog can't touch? Well, first of all, guarding your island of sanity. My wife and I concluded a long time ago that while our world was beyond our control, our home was up to us. It was our job to guard it as the one safe place for us and our children – our island of sanity in a crazy world.
The Bible praises the woman who is "clothed with strength and dignity" and who can "laugh without fear of the future...she carefully watches everything in her household" (Proverbs 31:25, 27). And Proverbs 14 affirms that "he who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge" (Proverbs 14:26).
Minimizing conflict, listening well, sharing real feelings, having clear and fair boundaries, loving in each other's language, living what you believe. See, that's what we can protect, whatever the "weather." It's our "safe room."
And then going by God's GPS is another important priority. There's one place that I can see no matter how dense the fog. That's in the presence of the God who rules it all. Listening to God in the early moments of the day through the "Love Letter" (the Bible) that He wrote to us. It's the one place that's always calm, always safe, where the light's always shining.
When I can't see where I'm going – and I've had plenty of those moments like that in the past year believe me. That's when our word for today from the Word of God kicks in. Psalm 119:105, "Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." The harder it is to spend that time, the more I need it. I get lost if I don't. I can see my way through the fog when I start my day asking God to show me what He sees.
And then there's handing out hope. "Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed" the Bible says (Proverbs 11:25). My Karen, she was so that person. She told me it was because she'd laid claim to the promise that "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). She just laid anchor in God's joy, no matter the hurts, no matter the medical challenges. Nothing that happens in Washington, Moscow, Beijing, on Wall Street or at work can stop you from handing out hope!
And then, boy, here's an anchor – staying close to the Shepherd. Right now I'm looking at my favorite picture of Jesus. He's the Good Shepherd, guiding His sheep, cuddling this little lamb in His arms. That lamb is me. Through my darkest night, my fiercest storm, I've been safe. If I stay close to the Shepherd, the Bible says, "even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid for You are close to me" (Psalm 23:4).
I may not be able to see what's ahead, but I'm not driving anyway. He's carrying me.