Max Lucado Daily: SHOWING WHO GOD IS - June 4, 2018
The Bible says that each person is given something to do that shows who God is! (1 Corinthians 12:7). When God gives an assignment, he also gives the skill. Look at your life. What do you consistently do well? What do you love to do? And what do others love for you to do?
So much for the excuse, I don’t have anything to offer. Enough of the self-deprecating, I can’t do anything. And enough of its arrogant opposite, “I have to do everything.” Imitate the Apostle Paul who said, “Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God’s plan for us” (2 Corinthians 10:13). Extract your uniqueness. “Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you!” (2 Timothy 1:6). And do so to make a big deal out of God!
Read more Cure for the Common Life
Mark 15:26-47
25-30 They nailed him up at nine o’clock in the morning. The charge against him—the king of the jews—was printed on a poster. Along with him, they crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”
31-32 The high priests, along with the religion scholars, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—but he can’t save himself! Messiah, is he? King of Israel? Then let him climb down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then!” Even the men crucified alongside him joined in the mockery.
33-34 At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
35-36 Some of the bystanders who heard him said, “Listen, he’s calling for Elijah.” Someone ran off, soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
37-39 But Jesus, with a loud cry, gave his last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle. When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, “This has to be the Son of God!”
Taken to a Tomb
40-41 There were women watching from a distance, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, these women followed and served him, and had come up with him to Jerusalem.
42-45 Late in the afternoon, since it was the Day of Preparation (that is, Sabbath eve), Joseph of Arimathea, a highly respected member of the Jewish Council, came. He was one who lived expectantly, on the lookout for the kingdom of God. Working up his courage, he went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate questioned whether he could be dead that soon and called for the captain to verify that he was really dead. Assured by the captain, he gave Joseph the corpse.
46-47 Having already purchased a linen shroud, Joseph took him down, wrapped him in the shroud, placed him in a tomb that had been cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the opening. Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses, watched the burial.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 04, 2018
Read: John 14:23–31
“Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me.
25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
28 “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.
29-31 “I’ve told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I’ll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don’t worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father’s instructions right down to the last detail.
“Get up. Let’s go. It’s time to leave here.”
INSIGHT
Did you do connect-the-dot puzzles as a child?
When Jesus spoke in John 14:23–31 about giving His Spirit to show His disciples all they needed to know, they couldn’t yet see the picture. What He said about love, obedience, and the Spirit who would help them put it all together were still just words.
Imagine what it was like to be one of Jesus’s disciples for whom what He was saying was such a mystery and a puzzle on that Passover night. Then the Spirit came and began to reveal truth. Think about how the Spirit is now, through the Scriptures, connecting the dots for you. - Mart DeHaan
Open My Eyes
By Keila Ochoa
The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things. John 14:26
The first time I went to the gorgeous Chora Church in Istanbul, I was able to figure out some Bible stories from the Byzantine frescos and mosaics on the ceiling. But there was much I missed. The second time, however, I had a guide. He pointed to all the details I had previously missed, and suddenly everything made perfect sense! The first aisle, for instance, depicted the life of Jesus as recorded in the gospel of Luke.
Sometimes when we read the Bible we understand the basic stories, but what about the connections—those details that weave Scripture into the one perfect story? We have Bible commentaries and study tools, yes, but we also need a guide—someone to open our eyes and help us see the wonders of God’s written revelation. Our guide is the Holy Spirit who teaches us “all things” (John 14:26). Paul wrote that He explains “spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words” (1 Corinthians 2:13).
How wonderful to have the Author of the Book to show us the wonders of it! God has not only given us His written Word and His revelation but He also helps us to understand it and learn from it. So let us pray with the psalmist, saying, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18).
Dear Lord, as I read Your Word, open my eyes that I may discover the wonders of Your revelation.
Study more at basics.christianuniversity.org/courses/SF105.
We need God in order to understand Scripture.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 04, 2018
The Never-forsaking God
He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." —Hebrews 13:5
What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
“I will never leave you…”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.
“I will never…forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Christianity is not consistency to conscience or to convictions; Christianity is being true to Jesus Christ. Biblical Ethics, 111 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 04, 2018
The Problem With Mt. Happiness - #8191
Okay, the plan was flawless. They told me that Cadillac Mountain was the first place you could see the sunrise in the United States. And my job, of course, was to provide wonderful memories and special experiences for my children. We were vacationing in Maine, and I was determined to let them have this thrill. Somehow, they didn't seem as excited about it as I was; must have been a maturity thing I guess. Well, why wasn't my wife excited then? Anyway, I carefully checked the weather forecast every day until I was sure we would have a clear morning to see the sunrise. I made everyone go to sleep early. I woke everybody up at 3:00 A. M. We were in a campground and I was afraid the kids would wake up complaining and waking up the neighbors, so I had a doughnut ready to stuff into each little mouth-including mine. I bundled everyone into the car and up we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain. I kept checking my watch, waiting for that magic moment of the scheduled sunrise, and the moment came. No sun. We waited and we waited. Surprise! The weatherman was wrong. We saw a distinctly unmemorable cloudrise.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Problem With Mt. Happiness."
We're on Indian reservations a lot, working with a wonderful team of young Native Americans, our On Eagles' Wings team. And the operative word you often hear to describe reservation young people is "hopelessness." They feel like there's no hope of things ever changing. Not long ago, I was in a very different setting, speaking to some wealthy and powerful business leaders. Later, I spoke at a meeting of their wives. I mean, we were in one of the wealthiest counties in America. After I spoke, one of the ladies there said, "Ron, I can describe what life is really like here in two words: hopelessness and despair."
Amazing. Despair at what many would consider the bottom of Mt. Happiness, and despair at the top, too. If you're at the bottom, you assume you're not happy because you don't even have a chance on Mt. Happiness. If you're halfway up, you figure you're unfulfilled because you're not all the way there yet. But what if you're at the top and you still don't have what you thought was at the top? You either sedate yourself so you don't have to think about it, or you jump off. That's what the leading physician in a major city did just a few years ago. He literally jumped off the highest building in the city.
I don't know where you are in climbing Mt. Happiness. But if that hole in your heart is still there, if you know deep inside that something you were made for is still missing, then our word for today from the Word of God is for you. In Isaiah 55, beginning with verse 2, God says: "Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to Me and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare...Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." See, it's God we're made for. It's God we've been needing all along. He's the only One who can fill the God-shaped hole in your heart.
And He's only reachable one way - through His Son, Jesus Christ. Because it took His Son's death on the cross to pay for a lifetime of running your life your way instead of doing it God's way. He died for your sin so you don't have to. So your sins can be erased from God's book, you can finally experience the love and the wholeness that only He can give you.
Ultimately, there are no answers on Mt. Happiness. It's the wrong mountain. There's only one mountain where you can find what you've spent a lifetime looking for. It's called Skull Hill in the Bible. It's the place where Jesus' cross was, where He died for you. When you surrender your life to Him there, everything God has for you comes flooding into your heart.
If you're tired of the hole in your heart, if you're tired of climbing mountains to nowhere, let today be your Jesus-day. Say, "Jesus, I'm yours." Check out our website. It's ANewStory.com, because it's there to help you be sure you belong to Him and know how you can.
Look, you've been searching an awful long time. It's time to find what you've been looking for; to find Who you've been looking for. I'll tell you, He's been waiting for you a long time.
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