Max Lucado Daily: DELIVERED FROM FEAR
God’s grace delivered us from fear, but how quickly we return! Grace told us we didn’t have to spend our lives looking over our shoulders…but look at us glancing backward. Look at us with guilt on our consciences. Why are we so quick to revert back to our old ways? Or, as Paul candidly wrote, “What a miserable man I am. Who will save me from this body that brings me death?” (Romans 7:24).
Simply stated: we are helpless to battle sin alone. Aren’t we glad Paul answered his own question? “I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25). The same one who saved us first is there to save us still. Such is the message of grace. You are saved, not because of what you do, but because of what Christ did! And you are special because of whose you are!
From In the Grip of Grace
Revelation 10
1-4 I saw another powerful Angel coming down out of Heaven wrapped in a cloud. There was a rainbow over his head, his face was sun-radiant, his legs pillars of fire. He had a small book open in his hand. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on land, then called out thunderously, a lion roar. When he called out, the Seven Thunders called back. When the Seven Thunders spoke, I started to write it all down, but a voice out of Heaven stopped me, saying, “Seal with silence the Seven Thunders; don’t write a word.”
5-7 Then the Angel I saw astride sea and land lifted his right hand to Heaven and swore by the One Living Forever and Ever, who created Heaven and everything in it, earth and everything in it, sea and everything in it, that time was up—that when the seventh Angel blew his trumpet, which he was about to do, the Mystery of God, all the plans he had revealed to his servants, the prophets, would be completed.
8-11 The voice out of Heaven spoke to me again: “Go, take the book held open in the hand of the Angel astride sea and earth.” I went up to the Angel and said, “Give me the little book.” He said, “Take it, then eat it. It will taste sweet like honey, but turn sour in your stomach.” I took the little book from the Angel’s hand and it was sweet honey in my mouth, but when I swallowed, my stomach curdled. Then I was told, “You must go back and prophesy again over many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, August 03, 2017
Read: Isaiah 26:1– 9
Stretch the Borders of Life
1-6 At that time, this song
will be sung in the country of Judah:
We have a strong city, Salvation City,
built and fortified with salvation.
Throw wide the gates
so good and true people can enter.
People with their minds set on you,
you keep completely whole,
Steady on their feet,
because they keep at it and don’t quit.
Depend on God and keep at it
because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.
Those who lived high and mighty
he knocked off their high horse.
He used the city built on the hill
as fill for the marshes.
All the exploited and outcast peoples
build their lives on the reclaimed land.
7-10 The path of right-living people is level.
The Leveler evens the road for the right-living.
We’re in no hurry, God. We’re content to linger
in the path sign-posted with your decisions.
Who you are and what you’ve done
are all we’ll ever want.
Through the night my soul longs for you.
Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you.
When your decisions are on public display,
everyone learns how to live right.
If the wicked are shown grace,
they don’t seem to get it.
In the land of right living, they persist in wrong living,
blind to the splendor of God
INSIGHT:
The peace Paul referenced in Philippians 4:7 closely parallels the rest that Jesus offers us in Matthew 11:28–29. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” This gift of “soul rest” is the peace that every heart craves—a peace that comes from wholeness and rightness (Isa. 26:3). This peace is much more than the absence of conflict; it is the blessing that comes from resting in Christ and His strength. As we learn to rest in Him, we will experience the resulting peace of His presence and power.
Are there specific struggles that are wearing you down? How might you become more intentional about drawing on Christ’s strength? Bill Crowder
Peace and Trust
By James Banks
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
When I was six years old I rode a roller coaster for the first time with my older brothers. As soon as we hit a turn at a high speed I started to yell: “Stop this thing right now! I want to get off!” Of course the roller coaster didn’t stop, and I had to “white knuckle” it, hanging on tight for the rest of the ride.
Sometimes life can feel like an unwanted roller coaster ride, with “downhill” drops and hairpin curves we never see coming. When unexpected difficulties occur, the Bible reminds us that our best recourse is to place our trust in God. It was in a tumultuous time when invasion threatened his country that the prophet Isaiah, inspired by the Spirit, discerned this powerful promise from the Lord: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you” (Isa. 26:3).
Life will have its difficulties, but our Savior, who loves us more than life, is greater than them all.
The peace our Savior gives us as we turn to Him “transcends all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). I will never forget the words of a woman who was struggling with breast cancer. After a group from our church prayed for her one evening, she said, “I don’t know what will happen, but I know that I’ll be okay, because the Lord was here with us tonight.”
Life will have its difficulties, but our Savior, who loves us more than life, is greater than them all.
Lord, help me to trust in You so that I may live in peace.
For help, read Navigating the Storms of Life at discoveryseries.org/hp061.
Jesus is our peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, August 03, 2017
The Compelling Purpose of God
He…said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…" —Luke 18:31
Jerusalem, in the life of our Lord, represents the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will. Jesus said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Seeking to do “the will of the Father” was the one dominating concern throughout our Lord’s life. And whatever He encountered along the way, whether joy or sorrow, success or failure, He was never deterred from that purpose. “…He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem…” (Luke 9:51).
The greatest thing for us to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s purpose, not our own. In the natural life our ambitions are our own, but in the Christian life we have no goals of our own. We talk so much today about our decisions for Christ, our determination to be Christians, and our decisions for this and that, but in the New Testament the only aspect that is brought out is the compelling purpose of God. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16).
We are not taken into a conscious agreement with God’s purpose— we are taken into God’s purpose with no awareness of it at all. We have no idea what God’s goal may be; as we continue, His purpose becomes even more and more vague. God’s aim appears to have missed the mark, because we are too nearsighted to see the target at which He is aiming. At the beginning of the Christian life, we have our own ideas as to what God’s purpose is. We say, “God means for me to go over there,” and, “God has called me to do this special work.” We do what we think is right, and yet the compelling purpose of God remains upon us. The work we do is of no account when compared with the compelling purpose of God. It is simply the scaffolding surrounding His work and His plan. “He took the twelve aside…” (Luke 18:31). God takes us aside all the time. We have not yet understood all there is to know of the compelling purpose of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, August 03, 2017
How to Get Into a Closed Heart - #7974
Over the years, I've had the privilege of meeting a lot of men and women who work in law enforcement and man do I appreciate and respect them. Some of them have helped out with security at events where I've spoken. In one city, I met some pretty impressive guys who worked on a SWAT team; those guys were sent in as rapid assault teams in those particularly dangerous situations. Bobby was one of them. They called him "The Slammer." Sounds like someone from the World Wrestling Federation. But they call Bobby that because he's the one who takes out the door when they're raiding a residence. And looking at how he's built (I mean, I think his arm is bigger than my waist) you can see they picked the right man for the job. If you want a door removed, "he da man!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Get Into a Closed Heart."
That often can be the toughest door of all to get open-the door on a closed heart, maybe you can think of somebody who's got one right now, especially if that heart is closed to Jesus. That's really hard. Somewhere in your personal world, there's a person whose only hope for this life and the next life is Jesus. But so far, their heart seems closed to Him. Key words: so far.
Our word for today from the Word of God demonstrates a powerful work that God does that changes the closed heart equation. Paul had just landed in his new mission field of Europe, in the town of Philippi. Near the river, he and his team met a successful businesswoman named Lydia. And Acts 16:14 says, "The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message." Paul found a door God had already opened. But, then, he of all people would have understood the power of God to open a heart. After all, was there ever a heart more closed to Jesus than his heart when he was Saul of Tarsus-a hit man against Christians? But God showed up in a way he couldn't ignore and, in a moment, slammed open that locked and bolted door.
It's important for you to remember why you are where you are. Jesus has positioned you there to give the people there a chance to know Him; to have a chance at heaven. You are that chance. But maybe you've been intimidated or frustrated by closed doors in your community, in outreach opportunities, in individual hearts. Maybe even in the heart of one you care about very deeply. Here's some good news: the Lord who opened your heart knows exactly what's needed to open theirs so He can do His life-saving work through you. My friends on that SWAT team don't wait for the door to open, they go to the door before it opens, believing that their "Slammer" will get it down.
That's what you have to do. You can go to the door with your personal Hope Story, with the story of Jesus and let God do the rest.
The Bible makes clear that the Father is the One who draws them to Jesus (John 6:44), that God will literally give you the words when it's time. Paul asked people to pray that "whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me" (Ephesians 6:19). That's a good prayer. The reason you can dare to open your mouth and tell them about the man who died for them is this: it's not about you. It's all about Him. You show up and let Him do His life-saving thing through you.
Here's an empowering prayer from Colossians 4:3-4, "Pray that God may open a door for our message ... pray that I may proclaim it clearly." Every day, pray what I call that three-open prayer: "Lord, open a door" (that's like a natural opportunity to bring up your relationship with Jesus), then "Lord, open their heart," and then "Lord, open my mouth!" And by the way, you don't need to say, "If it be Your will." It is!
God's going to provide an opportunity, God's going to open a heart, God will convict of sin, God will give you the words, and God will draw them to Jesus. It may not happen all at once, but it may never happen if you don't go to the door and give them a chance to hear what Jesus can do. Jesus has come to where you are to rescue people you know, and He's inviting you to go in with Him. I can tell you this, you will never do anything more important in your life!