Max Lucado Daily: Our Good Intentions
Struggles come for sure—but so does God! Before amen—comes the power of a simple prayer. As simple as, “Father, You are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
We want to pray but the calendar pounces on our good intentions like a tiger on a rabbit. Prayer is not a privilege for the pious, not the art of a chosen few. It is simply conversation between God and you. He wants to talk with you!
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Sign on at BeforeAmen.com—take a few minutes and do the Prayer Strengths Assessment. It will not only encourage you but give you a building block for your growth in prayer!
From Before Amen
Job 13
I’m Taking My Case to God
1-5 “Yes, I’ve seen all this with my own eyes,
heard and understood it with my very own ears.
Everything you know, I know,
so I’m not taking a backseat to any of you.
I’m taking my case straight to God Almighty;
I’ve had it with you—I’m going directly to God.
You graffiti my life with lies.
You’re a bunch of pompous quacks!
I wish you’d shut your mouths—
silence is your only claim to wisdom.
6-12 “Listen now while I make my case,
consider my side of things for a change.
Or are you going to keep on lying ‘to do God a service’?
to make up stories ‘to get him off the hook’?
Why do you always take his side?
Do you think he needs a lawyer to defend himself?
How would you fare if you were in the dock?
Your lies might convince a jury—but would they
convince God?
He’d reprimand you on the spot
if he detected a bias in your witness.
Doesn’t his splendor put you in awe?
Aren’t you afraid to speak cheap lies before him?
Your wise sayings are knickknack wisdom,
good for nothing but gathering dust.
13-19 “So hold your tongue while I have my say,
then I’ll take whatever I have coming to me.
Why do I go out on a limb like this
and take my life in my hands?
Because even if he killed me, I’d keep on hoping.
I’d defend my innocence to the very end.
Just wait, this is going to work out for the best—my salvation!
If I were guilt-stricken do you think I’d be doing this—
laying myself on the line before God?
You’d better pay attention to what I’m telling you,
listen carefully with both ears.
Now that I’ve laid out my defense,
I’m sure that I’ll be acquitted.
Can anyone prove charges against me?
I’ve said my piece. I rest my case.
Why Does God Stay Hidden and Silent?
20-27 “Please, God, I have two requests;
grant them so I’ll know I count with you:
First, lay off the afflictions;
the terror is too much for me.
Second, address me directly so I can answer you,
or let me speak and then you answer me.
How many sins have been charged against me?
Show me the list—how bad is it?
Why do you stay hidden and silent?
Why treat me like I’m your enemy?
Why kick me around like an old tin can?
Why beat a dead horse?
You compile a long list of mean things about me,
even hold me accountable for the sins of my youth.
You hobble me so I can’t move about.
You watch every move I make,
and brand me as a dangerous character.
28 “Like something rotten, human life fast decomposes,
like a moth-eaten shirt or a mildewed blouse.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 05, 2017
Read: Psalm 67
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—[b]
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Footnotes:
Psalm 67:1 In Hebrew texts 67:1-7 is numbered 67:2-8.
Psalm 67:1 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 4.
INSIGHT
Do you have a special place in your heart for those who are being ignored, misrepresented, or taken advantage of? Psalm 67 expresses such a heart for the whole world. Yet notice where the songwriter begins and ends. He starts by adapting the well-known Aaronic blessing of Israel (Num. 6:24–26). He rightly interprets God’s desire for his own nation when he says, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us” (Ps. 67:1).
God’s heart for Israel, however, isn’t where the song stops. It’s just the beginning. The author of this psalm recognizes God’s purpose in choosing some for the blessing of all (vv. 2–7). From the beginning, God’s promise to bless the descendants of Abraham was not just for the benefit of an undeserving few. God’s plan and vision was far wider. His purpose was that, in a descendant of Abraham, all of the families of the earth would be blessed.
That intent was fulfilled in Jesus. Living and dying to show the love of God for the world (John 3:16), He began by naming twelve disciples to be His personal and chosen witnesses to proclaim the gospel—for the good and blessing of all. - Mart DeHaan
Joy and Justice
By Bill Crowder
You rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. Psalm 67:4
At a conference in Asia, I had two eye-opening conversations in the span of a few hours. First, a pastor told of spending eleven years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction before he was cleared. Then, a group of families shared how they had spent a fortune to escape religious persecution in their homeland, only to be betrayed by the very people they had paid to bring about their rescue. Now, after years in a refugee camp, they wonder if they will ever find a home.
In both cases, victimization was compounded by an absence of justice—just one evidence of our world’s brokenness. But this vacuum of justice is not a permanent condition.
You rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. Psalm 67:4
Psalm 67 calls on God’s people to make Him known to our hurting world. The result will be joy, not only as a response to God’s love but also because of His justice. “May the nations be glad and sing for joy,” says the psalmist, “for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth” (v. 4).
Although the Bible writers understood that “equity” (fairness and justice) is a key component of God’s love, they also knew that it will only be fully realized in the future. Until then, in our world of injustice, we can serve to point others to our God’s divine justice. His coming will see “justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24).
Father, help us to work for Your justice now where we live, even as we await the day when You will make everything right. We long for that day.
Work for justice; pray for mercy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 05, 2017
Partakers of His Suffering
…but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings… —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, “Oh, I can’t deal with that person.” Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.”
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own. Biblical Ethics, 99 R