Max Lucado Daily: GRATITUDE FOR THE GREATEST GIFT
Gratitude. It’s being more aware of what you have than what you don’t. It’s recognizing the treasure in the simple—a child’s hug, a golden sunset. Most of all, it’s a sense of the greatest gift: The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who took your place.
In the World War II death camp at Auschwitz, Franciszek [FRAN-sih-zeck] Gajowniczek [Guh-JOE-na-zeck] was one of ten prisoners chosen to die. An angel in the form of Franciscan priest Maximilian Kolbe volunteered to take his place. You know, you and I have something in common with Franciszek. We both had a substitute die in our place. And we both have discovered what it means to be grateful. For what we have is far greater than anything we might want. Wouldn’t you agree?
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 109
A David Prayer
109 1-5 My God, don’t turn a deaf ear to my hallelujah prayer.
Liars are pouring out invective on me;
Their lying tongues are like a pack of dogs out to get me,
barking their hate, nipping my heels—and for no reason!
I loved them and now they slander me—yes, me!—
and treat my prayer like a crime;
They return my good with evil,
they return my love with hate.
6-20 Send the Evil One to accuse my accusing judge;
dispatch Satan to prosecute him.
When he’s judged, let the verdict be “Guilty,”
and when he prays, let his prayer turn to sin.
Give him a short life,
and give his job to somebody else.
Make orphans of his children,
dress his wife in widow’s weeds;
Turn his children into begging street urchins,
evicted from their homes—homeless.
May the bank foreclose and wipe him out,
and strangers, like vultures, pick him clean.
May there be no one around to help him out,
no one willing to give his orphans a break.
Chop down his family tree
so that nobody even remembers his name.
But erect a memorial to the sin of his father,
and make sure his mother’s name is there, too—
Their sins recorded forever before God,
but they themselves sunk in oblivion.
That’s all he deserves since he was never once kind,
hounded the afflicted and heartbroken to their graves.
Since he loved cursing so much,
let curses rain down;
Since he had no taste for blessing,
let blessings flee far from him.
He dressed up in curses like a fine suit of clothes;
he drank curses, took his baths in curses.
So give him a gift—a costume of curses;
he can wear curses every day of the week!
That’s what they’ll get, those out to get me—
an avalanche of just deserts from God.
21-25 Oh, God, my Lord, step in;
work a miracle for me—you can do it!
Get me out of here—your love is so great!—
I’m at the end of my rope, my life in ruins.
I’m fading away to nothing, passing away,
my youth gone, old before my time.
I’m weak from hunger and can hardly stand up,
my body a rack of skin and bones.
I’m a joke in poor taste to those who see me;
they take one look and shake their heads.
26-29 Help me, oh help me, God, my God,
save me through your wonderful love;
Then they’ll know that your hand is in this,
that you, God, have been at work.
Let them curse all they want;
you do the blessing.
Let them be jeered by the crowd when they stand up,
followed by cheers for me, your servant.
Dress my accusers in clothes dirty with shame,
discarded and humiliating old ragbag clothes.
30-31 My mouth’s full of great praise for God,
I’m singing his hallelujahs surrounded by crowds,
For he’s always at hand to take the side of the needy,
to rescue a life from the unjust judge.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Acts 8:26–35
Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.
29-30 The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31-33 He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:
As a sheep led to slaughter,
and quiet as a lamb being sheared,
He was silent, saying nothing.
He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.
But who now can count his kin
since he’s been taken from the earth?
34-35 The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.
Insight
All Scripture points to Jesus and is about Him. In today’s passage (Acts 8:26–35), it’s easy to identify the quote from Isaiah 53 as pointing to Jesus because of prophetic hindsight. But Jesus Himself reminds us that all Scripture, not just the prophecies, point to Him. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
Good News to Tell
Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. Acts 8:35
“What’s your name?” asked Arman, an Iranian student. After I told him my name is Estera, his face lit up as he exclaimed, “We have a similar name in Farsi, it’s Setare!” That small connection opened up an amazing conversation. I told him I was named after a Bible character, “Esther,” a Jewish queen in Persia (present-day Iran). Starting with her story, I shared the good news of Jesus. As a result of our conversation, Arman started attending a weekly Bible study to learn more about Christ.
One of Jesus’s followers, Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, asked a question that ignited a conversation with an Ethiopian official traveling in his chariot: “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). The Ethiopian man was reading a passage from the book of Isaiah and seeking spiritual insight. So Philip’s question came at the right time. He invited Philip to sit next to him and in humility listened. Philip, realizing what an amazing opportunity this was, “began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (v. 35).
Like Philip, we too have good news to tell. Let’s seize the daily occasions we encounter in our workplace, at the grocery store, or in our neighborhood. May we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our steps and give us the words to share our hope and joy in Jesus. By Estera Pirosca Escobar
Today's Reflection
How will you prepare yourself to be more open to speaking to others about Jesus? What encouragement do you gain from Philip’s example?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
Have You Seen Jesus?
After that, He appeared in another form to two of them… —Mark 16:12
Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many people who have never seen Jesus have received and share in God’s grace. But once you have seen Him, you can never be the same. Other things will not have the appeal they did before.
You should always recognize the difference between what you see Jesus to be and what He has done for you. If you see only what He has done for you, your God is not big enough. But if you have had a vision, seeing Jesus as He really is, experiences can come and go, yet you will endure “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). The man who was blind from birth did not know who Jesus was until Christ appeared and revealed Himself to him (see John 9). Jesus appears to those for whom He has done something, but we cannot order or predict when He will come. He may appear suddenly, at any turn. Then you can exclaim, “Now I see Him!” (see John 9:25).
Jesus must appear to you and to your friend individually; no one can see Jesus with your eyes. And division takes place when one has seen Him and the other has not. You cannot bring your friend to the point of seeing; God must do it. Have you seen Jesus? If so, you will want others to see Him too. “And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:13). When you see Him, you must tell, even if they don’t believe.
O could I tell, you surely would believe it!
O could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can you receive it,
How, till He bringeth you where I have been?
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
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
The Test - Then the Lessons - #8412
Charles Dickens said it about the French Revolution, "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." Well, during final exams in college, it's just the worst of times. Actually, it was mostly our own fault. We waited until one or two nights before the exam to try and cram in all that information that we should have been studying all along. Now, my room was always Grand Central Station during finals days. Did you know that? Yes, you can take finals days two ways. I usually took pretty good notes in class, so everyone jammed into my room to try and learn what was there to learn. Hey, the big test was coming, man! We had to learn what was in all those lessons!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Test - Then the Lessons."
Wait! Isn't that backwards? You get the lessons first and then the test, right? Well, in school, maybe, but not in God's training program for your life. See, He approaches it in the reverse order. First, you get the test; then, you get the lessons. And because you may be experiencing one of God's tests right now, that's something it will really help you to remember.
The Apostle Paul was reflecting on some big tests he had been through when he wrote our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9. In fact, you might be able to relate very personally to some of the very words he chooses to describe the tests he was going through.
Here's what he says, "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death." Any feelings you can relate to there? God doesn't bring or allow a test in your life just to test you. No, He's planning to use that test to take you to another level in your relationship with Him.
Paul goes on here to tell us the lesson that he learned from the test, "But this happened that..." Okay, you're asking, "Why, Lord?" as Paul apparently did. You'll want to pay particularly close attention to the answer he got. "But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." Paul tended to be, like a lot of us, a self-reliant, a "make it happen" person, "get to the goal." I can relate to that a lot.
And that's not all bad except when it means that we're depending on our ability to get it done. And that's why God had to take Paul "beyond our ability." Maybe that's where He's got you right now. Why? So you will again surrender to His strength, His plans, His timing, and His way of getting it done.
If you'll focus on the lessons God is trying to teach you rather than obsessing on the test, it will make your load a little easier to bear. It will give you hope. It will give you meaning in the pain you're going through. His lesson might be greater dependency on Him, or a deepened sensitivity to help you become a wounded healer of other hurting people. He's trying to grow your compassion. Or the lesson might be greater humility, putting you in a situation where the great helper has to open up to letting others help you for a change.
In school, you couldn't pass the test unless you had studied the lessons. But in God's training of you to be His spiritual warrior, you can't learn the lessons without having the test; maybe like the one He's entrusting to you right now. You're going to have the test. You have no choice about that. But if you're going to have the test, for goodness sake, don't miss the lessons! If you're going to have the pain, well, don't miss God's point!
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