Max Lucado Daily: IF YOU HAVE A HEART LIKE HIS
What if for one day—24 hours—Jesus were to become you? Imagine. Your heart gets the day off, and your life is led by the heart of Christ. His priorities govern your actions. His passions drive your decisions. His love directs your behavior.
Would people notice a change? And how would you feel? What effect would this have on your stress level? Would you still do what you had planned to do? Obligations…appointments…would anything change?
God’s plan for you is nothing short of a new heart. Ephesians 4:23-24 says, “But you were taught to be made new in your hearts, to become a new person. That new person is made to be like God—made to be truly good and holy.” God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.
Read more Just Like Jesus
John 6:1-21
After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.
5-6 When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.”
8-9 One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.”
10-11 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.
12-13 When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.
14-15 The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, “This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!” Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.
16-21 In the evening his disciples went down to the sea, got in the boat, and headed back across the water to Capernaum. It had grown quite dark and Jesus had not yet returned. A huge wind blew up, churning the sea. They were maybe three or four miles out when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, quite near the boat. They were scared senseless, but he reassured them, “It’s me. It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.” So they took him on board. In no time they reached land—the exact spot they were headed to.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 01, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Peter 4:7-11
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
Insight
You might think today’s reading is merely a list of commands Peter expects his readers to embrace. However, the statements in verse 11 are written in the form of urging or encouragement. This is evident by the beginning phrase “if anyone.” The challenges to those who speak (teach and preach) and to those who serve describe how these things are to be done—with confidence. The one who speaks is to speak with assurance that the message reflects the heart and mind of God, and the one who serves does so knowing that God’s strength will supply all that is needed for the task at hand. The result of such reliance? “That in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”
For further study, see Knowing God Through 1 Peter at discoveryseries.org/sb242.
By: Bill Crowder
Deeper Love
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
When they first met, Edwin Stanton snubbed US president Abraham Lincoln personally and professionally—even referring to him as a “long-armed creature.” But Lincoln appreciated Stanton’s abilities and chose to forgive him, eventually appointing Stanton to a vital cabinet position during the Civil War. Stanton later grew to love Lincoln as a friend. It was Stanton who sat by Lincoln’s bed throughout the night after the president was shot at Ford’s Theater and whispered through tears on his passing, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
Reconciliation is a beautiful thing. The apostle Peter pointed followers of Jesus there when he wrote, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Peter’s words cause me to wonder if he was thinking of his own denial of Jesus (Luke 22:54–62) and the forgiveness Jesus offered him (and us) through the cross.
The deep love Jesus demonstrated through His death on the cross frees us from the debt for our sins and opens the way for our reconciliation with God (Colossians 1:19–20). His forgiveness empowers us to forgive others as we realize we can’t forgive in our own strength and ask Him to help us. When we love others because our Savior loves them and forgive because He has forgiven us, God gives us strength to let go of the past and walk forward with Him into beautiful new places of grace. By James Banks
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 01, 2019
The Call of God
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel… —1 Corinthians 1:17
Paul states here that the call of God is to preach the gospel. But remember what Paul means by “the gospel,” namely, the reality of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are inclined to make sanctification the goal of our preaching. Paul refers to personal experiences only by way of illustration, never as the end of the matter. We are not commissioned to preach salvation or sanctification— we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (see John 12:32). It is an injustice to say that Jesus Christ labored in redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God. The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption. If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.
The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the gospel of God. He welcomed heartbreak, disillusionment, and tribulation for only one reason— these things kept him unmovable in his devotion to the gospel of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 01, 2019
Letting Go Of the Wheel - #8365
Well, my wife said she knew we were in serious danger when I started rubbing my right leg – while driving, that is. See, I'm a marathon driver and I really like to drive. So Karen and I found ourselves in situations where I was starting to drive past my prime alertness. First sign of sleepiness – rubbing my leg. It must have been some kind of involuntary reflex. So she'd ask if I'd like her to drive. Of course not. Second sign – I'd start doing calisthenics to stay alert. And she would ask if I'd like her to drive. Silly girl; no way. Next sign of impending disaster – I would turn on the most obnoxious radio station I could find. Again, she would suggest that she drive and I'd answer, "I'm fine!" Then I roll down the window – even with the wind chill being, let's say, 30 below. Then, a little more insistent, Karen would say, "Honey, please let me drive." Finally – just before we became a National Safety Council statistic – I'd pull over to the side of the road and relinquish the wheel. You know what? I was out cold before Karen could even pull out on the highway again.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Letting Go Of The Wheel."
My wife sometimes had a hard time getting me to let go of the wheel. God knows that feeling – maybe with you too. Because, you see, some of us hang onto control for as long as we can, not realizing that we are heading for a crash if we don't let go. And we're missing miracles that God wants to do in our lives because we refuse to relinquish control.
You see that in flesh-and-blood in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Kings 5:1. Naaman is Syria's greatest general. He's described in these words: "a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy." He has a problem totally beyond his control. Well, his Jewish servant girl suggests that he go to the prophet Elisha in Israel to be healed by God. It's interesting how Naaman goes about it.
Listen to this: "So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousands shekels of gold" – you get the idea – he's going to use his wealth to buy himself a cure. Then he decides to use his connections to get well – he goes right to the top. He goes right to the king of Israel. The king says he can't help him and he sends Naaman where he should have gone in the first place – to Elisha. Okay, here comes the motorcade. "So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to him..." Now imagine how that went over. The prophet won't even come out and see the mighty general; he delegates it to his servant. This is not going well so far.
Finally, the method of getting cured is not what Naaman wants or expects – to dip himself seven times in the muddy waters of the Jordan River. He almost leaves, still dying of leprosy. But he finally humbles himself, immerses himself in the river, and the Bible says, "his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy." Here's Naaman's exciting testimony to Elisha: "Now I know there is no God in all the world except in Israel...I will never again make sacrifices to any other god but the Lord."
There's a lot of Naaman in a lot of us. We want to hold on to the wheel, do it our way, maintain control. We want to contribute to the solution. We want to maintain our pride. But there's no miracle there – not until God has squeezed the last drop of you out of solving this, so you will know, as never before, His power and His love. God's answer is going to require your humility, not your help, and probably come from a source you wouldn't plan on or expect. So, the sooner you release control, the sooner God will respond and the sooner the cure will be yours.
You've been stubbornly hanging onto that wheel. God's been asking over and over, "Isn't it time you let Me drive? You'll crash if you don't." Isn't it time you pull over and finally let the Lord have the wheel?
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