Max Lucado Daily: RESPECT YOUR BODY
God has a high regard for your body. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul calls our body the “temple” of God. Be careful how you feed it, use it, and maintain it. You wouldn’t want anyone trashing your home; God doesn’t want anyone trashing his. After all, it is his, isn’t it? A little jogging and dieting to the glory of God wouldn’t hurt most of us.
Your body, in some form, will last forever. God will glorify your body. He will remove all weakness and disease. Isn’t that great news? Your pain will not last forever. Is your heart weak? It will be strong in heaven. Has cancer corrupted your system? There is no cancer in heaven. For a season, your soul will be in heaven while your body is in the grave. But the seed buried in the earth will blossom in heaven. And you will be just like Jesus!
From When Christ Comes
Mark 3:1-19
Doing Good on the Sabbath
3 1-3 Then he went back in the meeting place where he found a man with a crippled hand. The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if he would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. He said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand here where we can see you.”
4 Then he spoke to the people: “What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?” No one said a word.
5-6 He looked them in the eye, one after another, angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out—it was as good as new! The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, sputtering about how they would join forces with Herod’s followers and ruin him.
The Twelve Apostles
7-10 Jesus went off with his disciples to the sea to get away. But a huge crowd from Galilee trailed after them—also from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, across the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon—swarms of people who had heard the reports and had come to see for themselves. He told his disciples to get a boat ready so he wouldn’t be trampled by the crowd. He had healed many people, and now everyone who had something wrong was pushing and shoving to get near and touch him.
11-12 Evil spirits, when they recognized him, fell down and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” But Jesus would have none of it. He shut them up, forbidding them to identify him in public.
13-19 He climbed a mountain and invited those he wanted with him. They climbed together. He settled on twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word and give them authority to banish demons. These are the Twelve:
Simon (Jesus later named him Peter, meaning “Rock”),
James, son of Zebedee,
John, brother of James (Jesus nicknamed the Zebedee brothers Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),
Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon the Canaanite,
Judas Iscariot (who betrayed him).
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Read: Hebrews 10:19–25
A Call to Persevere in Faith
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
INSIGHT
A good example of teamwork is found in Nehemiah 3. Forty-two teams of workers—thirty-eight named individuals and hundreds more unnamed—worked together to rebuild Jerusalem’s broken walls. The high priest and fellow priests did not consider manual labor beneath them. They took the lead and set the example for the people (vv. 1, 28). Rulers, nobles, and city officials who could have ordered their servants to do the manual work, labored alongside the common people (vv. 9, 12, 17, 19). Craftsmen—goldsmiths and perfume makers who normally did artisan work—roughed it out under the hot sun (vv. 8, 31–32). Men and women worked side by side to accomplish their work (v. 12). The word next (used twenty-six times in Nehemiah 3) gives us a picture of commitment, cooperation, harmony, and unity. Each group of workers knew where to work, understood their tasks, and expeditiously completed them.
How does the teamwork of the temple workers, along with the admonition of Hebrews 10:25 to encourage each other, help you pursue teamwork in your service for Christ?
Pulling Together
By David C. McCasland
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24
Why do more than five million people a year pay money to run several miles over an obstacle course where they must ascend vertical walls, slog through mud, and climb up inside a vertical pipe with water pouring down on them? Some see it as a personal challenge to push their limit of endurance or conquer their fears. For others, the attraction is teamwork where competitors help and support each other. One person called it “a no-judgment zone” where people who are strangers will reach out to help each other finish the race (Stephanie Kanowitz, The Washington Post).
The Bible urges us to pursue teamwork as a model of living out our faith in Jesus. “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24–25).
Father, give us eyes to see and strength to help.
Our goal is not to “finish first” in the race of faith, but to reach out in tangible ways of encouragement by setting an example and lending a helping hand along the way.
The day will come when we complete our life on earth. Until then, let’s spur each other on, be ready to help, and keep pulling together every day.
Father in heaven, give us eyes to see and strength to help each other in the race of faith today.
We run together in the race of faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
For God so loved the world that He gave… —John 3:16
Salvation does not mean merely deliverance from sin or the experience of personal holiness. The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself, and being placed into perfect union with Him. When I think of my salvation experience, I think of being delivered from sin and gaining personal holiness. But salvation is so much more! It means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.
To say that we are called to preach holiness or sanctification is to miss the main point. We are called to proclaim Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). The fact that He saves from sin and makes us holy is actually part of the effect of His wonderful and total surrender to us.
If we are truly surrendered, we will never be aware of our own efforts to remain surrendered. Our entire life will be consumed with the One to whom we surrender. Beware of talking about surrender if you know nothing about it. In fact, you will never know anything about it until you understand that John 3:16 means that God completely and absolutely gave Himself to us. In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us— totally, unconditionally, and without reservation. The consequences and circumstances resulting from our surrender will never even enter our mind, because our life will be totally consumed with Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If a man cannot prove his religion in the valley, it is not worth anything. Shade of His Hand, 1200 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
The Compartment Charade - #8132
Sometimes when I'm speaking at a youth conference, I show up on the platform with a pie and a can of whipped cream. Sometimes it makes the front row a little nervous. But not to fear - it's only an illustration, not a weapon. I have my pie cut into six slices. I cover one of those slices with a generous serving of whipped cream. Then the big question to the audience, "How many slices are going to taste like whipped cream?" There's no trick question here. One slice will. Then I spray the whipped cream all over that pie and then there's whipped cream everywhere. And then I repeat the question. This is not hard. Every slice of the pie now will taste like whipped cream. Which, whether you realize it or not, could have a lot to do with how God feels about you as a Christian!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Compartment Charade."
When we think about letting Jesus Christ be the Lord of our life, as He says He must be, we tend to think of one big slice that will be His - it becomes the Jesus-slice of our life. So, in that slice, you read His Book, you go to His meetings, you give to His offerings, you believe all His beliefs, you learn His language. That spiritual slice of our lives really tastes like Jesus.
But when Jesus talks about being our Lord, He's talking about changing the flavor of every slice of your life; how you act at work, at home, at school, what you do with your money, what you do with your talents, what you look at on the internet, what you watch, what you listen to, and what you do with your friends. But, see, you and I live in the Age of Compartmentalization where our beliefs are pretty much one compartment of our life. After all, what are beliefs for? You just believe them, right? And if you believe them, and visit them every Sunday at the Belief Museum, that's enough, right? "Hey, I really believe this stuff. I really do." We may not agree openly, but surveys, and just everyday life, show that a lot of us live like our relationship with Jesus is just a slice of our life - an important slice, but just a slice.
In our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 1:11, God reveals His shocking reaction to our compartmentalized faith. "'The multitude of your sacrifices - what are they to Me?' says the Lord...'I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats...Stop bringing meaningless offerings...When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.'" Imagine, your Lord calling all your Christian meetings and activities "meaningless;" telling you that all your God-stuff is a waste of time in His eyes - that He's not going to respond to your prayers.
Here's the reason. God says, "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of My sight. Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!" Then God proceeds to name specific areas where their lives do not measure up to their beliefs. The message here is clear. No matter how beautiful the spiritual compartment of your life is, it means nothing when the rest of your life contradicts it.
Your Lord responds to what you live, not just what you believe. And maybe right now He's seeing how you cheat in your business, how you treat your family, how you watch or listen to portrayals of things that He hates, your racial prejudice, your out-of-control mouth, what you're doing romantically. And, in His holy eyes, you are neutralizing whatever you're doing over there in your spiritual compartment of your life.
Jesus asks this blunt question, "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord" and do not do what I say?'" (Luke 6:46). He bought you with His life. He didn't pay for just a slice of your life. Either He's Lord of all or He's not Lord at all!
Maybe Jesus has only been in your head all these years and you've never moved Him to your heart. Which means you're still lost. You've never gone to the cross and said, "What happened there, Jesus, was for me, and I'm giving me to You." If you realize that today and you want to change it, and you want to be His for real, move Him from just your head to your heart. Tell Him today, "Jesus, finally, I'm really yours."
Our website is there to help you make sure you belong to Him. I encourage you to go to ANewStory.com today.
Remember, if He's not Lord of all, He's not Lord at all.