Max Lucado Daily: FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE
Proverbs 16:18 reminds us as humility goes before honor, “pride goes before a fall.” Ever wonder why churches are powerful in one generation but empty the next? The Bible says, the Lord will tear down the house of the proud. God hates arrogance. He hates it because we haven’t done anything to be arrogant about. Is there a Pulitzer for ink? Can you imagine a scalpel growing smug after a successful heart transplant? Of course not. They are only tools. So are we. We may be the canvas, the paper, or the scalpel, but we are not the one who deserves the applause.
David declares who does in Psalm 23, “He makes me… He leads me… He restores my soul…for His name’s sake.” For His name’s sake! No other name. This is all done for God’s glory. He takes the credit, not because He needs it, but because He knows we cannot handle it!
Read more Traveling Light
Matthew 24:1-28
Routine History
1-2 Jesus then left the Temple. As he walked away, his disciples pointed out how very impressive the Temple architecture was. Jesus said, “You’re not impressed by all this sheer size, are you? The truth of the matter is that there’s not a stone in that building that is not going to end up in a pile of rubble.”
3 Later as he was sitting on Mount Olives, his disciples approached and asked him, “Tell us, when are these things going to happen? What will be the sign of your coming, that the time’s up?”
4-8 Jesus said, “Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities, claiming, ‘I am Christ, the Messiah.’ They will deceive a lot of people. When reports come in of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history; this is no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places. This is nothing compared to what is coming.
9-10 “They are going to throw you to the wolves and kill you, everyone hating you because you carry my name. And then, going from bad to worse, it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other’s throat, everyone hating each other.
11-12 “In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes.
13-14 “Staying with it—that’s what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come.
The Monster of Desecration
15-20 “But be ready to run for it when you see the monster of desecration set up in the Temple sanctuary. The prophet Daniel described this. If you’ve read Daniel, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills; if you’re working in the yard, don’t return to the house to get anything; if you’re out in the field, don’t go back and get your coat. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Hope and pray this won’t happen during the winter or on a Sabbath.
21-22 “This is going to be trouble on a scale beyond what the world has ever seen, or will see again. If these days of trouble were left to run their course, nobody would make it. But on account of God’s chosen people, the trouble will be cut short.
The Arrival of the Son of Man
23-25 “If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, ‘Here’s the Messiah!’ or points, ‘There he is!’ don’t fall for it. Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and dazzling performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. But I’ve given you fair warning.
26-28 “So if they say, ‘Run to the country and see him arrive!’ or, ‘Quick, get downtown, see him come!’ don’t give them the time of day. The Arrival of the Son of Man isn’t something you go to see. He comes like swift lightning to you! Whenever you see crowds gathering, think of carrion vultures circling, moving in, hovering over a rotting carcass. You can be quite sure that it’s not the living Son of Man pulling in those crowds.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 26, 2018
Read: Revelation 4
The Throne in Heaven
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits[a] of God. 6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’[b]
who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Footnotes:
Revelation 4:5 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
Revelation 4:8 Isaiah 6:3
Holy, Holy, Holy
By Julie Ackerman Link
Day and night they never stop saying: “ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 4:8
“Time flies when you’re having fun.” This cliché has no basis in fact, but experience makes it seem true.
When life is pleasant, time passes all too quickly. Give me a task that I enjoy, or a person whose company I love, and time seems irrelevant.
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 4:8
My experience of this “reality” has given me a new understanding of the scene described in Revelation 4. In the past, when I considered the four living creatures seated around God’s throne who keep repeating the same few words, I thought, What a boring existence!
I don’t think that anymore. I think about the scenes they have witnessed with their many eyes (v. 8). I consider the view they have from their position around God’s throne (v. 6). I think of how amazed they are at God’s wise and loving involvement with wayward earthlings. Then I think, What better response could there be? What else is there to say but, “Holy, holy, holy”?
Is it boring to say the same words over and over? Not when you’re in the presence of the one you love. Not when you’re doing exactly what you were designed to do.
Like the four creatures, we were designed to glorify God. Our lives will never be boring if we’re focusing our attention on Him and fulfilling that purpose.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! Reginald Heber
The author of this article, Julie, is now worshiping her Lord in heaven.
A heart in tune with God can’t help but sing His praise.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 26, 2018
Look Again and Consecrate
If God so clothes the grass of the field…, will He not much more clothe you…? —Matthew 6:30
A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. Jesus asks us to consider that “if God so clothes the grass of the field…” how “much more” will He clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him? Every time we lose ground in our fellowship with God, it is because we have disrespectfully thought that we knew better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed “the cares of this world” to enter in (Matthew 13:22), while forgetting the “much more” of our heavenly Father.
“Look at the birds of the air…” (Matthew 6:26). Their function is to obey the instincts God placed within them, and God watches over them. Jesus said that if you have the right relationship with Him and will obey His Spirit within you, then God will care for your “feathers” too.
“Consider the lilies of the field…” (Matthew 6:28). They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us. Therefore, we don’t take root anywhere. Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things. Did Jesus Christ lie to us? Are we experiencing the “much more” He promised? If we are not, it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries. How much time have we wasted asking God senseless questions while we should be absolutely free to concentrate on our service to Him? Consecration is the act of continually separating myself from everything except that which God has appointed me to do. It is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process. Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 26, 2018
Sensing The Current - #8100
The more opportunity I have had to spend time with our Native American friends, the more fascinated I have become with eagles. See, where I lived in New Jersey, the only eagles we saw were the ones from Philadelphia that came to play the New York Giants every once in a while. But spending time on reservations, man, we've seen a lot of eagles and learned a lot about them. Of course, the big show is watching the eagle soar through the sky, right?. But sometimes you have to wait a while before he does. See, the eagle may just sit there for quite a while. He's actually waiting until he feels the wind that he needs to ride on. Eagles have this amazing instinct to sense the current and go with it. And they won't move until they sense that wind that will carry them to the clouds.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Sensing The Current."
Now, it's the eagle that God uses to describe how you and I can soar even when we're weary or weak. He talks about it in our word for today from the Word of God in the familiar words of Isaiah 40:31. "Those who wait on the Lord will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Now, why can the eagle soar so high and so effortlessly for so long? Because he waits to see where the wind is blowing and he goes with it. That's exactly how you and I are to make our decisions and our plans - waiting to see where the wind of God is blowing in this particular situation and then going with it. It's interesting that the Hebrew word used for "Spirit" in the Old Testament is also the word for "wind." And the same is true of the Greek word "pneuma" in the New Testament. We fly longer, we fly farther when we wait for...when we catch the wind of where the Spirit of God is going.
So the hard part in all of this is that dreaded word "wait." Especially for us "make it happen," action-oriented, strong-willed types. If God doesn't seem to be giving us clear guidance or things don't seem to be moving, we just take off, we furiously flap our wings, determined to get things moving somehow. We've got to do something, right? Anything! But God said you have to be like the eagle if you want to soar. If you want His way, you have to wait until you sense where the current of God is going.
That's what Paul did when the Ephesian believers asked him why he was going to Jerusalem when his life was in danger. He said, "Compelled by the Spirit, I am going" (Acts 20:20). God's current is moving toward Jerusalem and that's where I have to go. Earlier, when Paul thought he was going to Troas to launch church planting in Asia Minor, he stopped in his tracks because the Spirit-wind was changing direction, and he ended up soaring into Europe with the Gospel. For 2,000 years, the best of God's servants have been flexible, "turnable," seeking the Spirit's direction instead of pushing ahead stubbornly or impatiently on their own.
So, stop flapping your wings for a while today and sit back to sense the current of God. Where is He going in your church? Where is He going in your ministry, in your area, in your career? Where is He going in your child's life, or your spouse's life? Where's He going in today's 'to do' list? Let God invite you to join Him in what He's doing instead of you trying to get Him to join you in what you're doing. Wait for Him in prayer. Let Him open the doors. Let Him change the hearts and meet the need, provide that relationship.
Start to develop the instincts of the eagle - to sense where the Creator's current is blowing. Then you can be carried by the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit of God instead of forcing and driving and rushing all by yourself.