Max Lucado Daily: OUR GOD CANNOT BE CONTAINED
Most people have small thoughts about God. In an effort to see God as our friend, we have lost his immensity. In our desire to understand him, we have sought to contain him.
The God of the Bible cannot be contained. With a word he called Adam out of dust and Eve out of a bone. He consulted no committee. He sought no counsel. He has authority over the world and…He has authority over your world. He’s never surprised. He has never, ever uttered the phrase, “How did that happen?”
God’s goodness is a major headline in the Bible. If he were only mighty, we’d salute Him. But since he is merciful and mighty, we can approach him. If God is at once Father and Creator, holy—unlike us—and high above us, then we at any point are only a prayer away from help
1 Corinthians 2
You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.
3-5 I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.
6-10 We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That’s why we have this Scripture text:
No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.
But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.
10-13 The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
14-16 The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 25, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Peter 2:4–10
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”[b]
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”[c]
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”[d]
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Insight
When Peter speaks of Jesus and His disciples as being like living stones (1 Peter 2:4–6), he draws on words from the prophet Isaiah and Psalm 118. Using the language of a builder, Isaiah foresees a cornerstone God will lay in Jerusalem as a safe foundation for all who build on it (28:16). Psalm 118 praises the day when this cornerstone will be laid, describing it as a stone human builders rejected before God used it to show that His faithful love endures forever (vv. 22–24, 29). Peter is joined by the apostle Paul, who also refers to Jesus as the cornerstone of a temple made of the treasured lives of God’s own people (Ephesians 2:19–22). Together, these Old and New Testament texts give us a picture of a temple that comes alive in the people of God as they’re filled with the Spirit of Christ. By: Mart DeHaan
God’s Special Treasure
But you are . . . God’s special possession. 1 Peter 2:9
Imagine a vast throne room. Seated on the throne is a great king. He’s surrounded by all manner of attendants, each on their best behavior. Now imagine a box that sits at the king’s feet. From time to time the king reaches down and runs his hands through the contents. And what’s in the box? Jewels, gold, and gemstones particular to the king’s tastes. This box holds the king’s treasures, a collection that brings him great joy. Can you see that image in your mind’s eye?
The Hebrew word for this treasure is segulah, and it means “special possession.” That word is found in such Old Testament Scriptures as Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy 7:6, and Psalm 135:4, where it refers to the nation of Israel. But that same word picture shows up in the New Testament by way of the pen of Peter the apostle. He’s describing the “people of God,” those who “have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:10), a collection now beyond the nation of Israel. In other words, he’s talking about those who believe in Jesus, both Jew and gentile. And he writes “But you are . . . God’s special possession” (v. 9).
Imagine that! The great and powerful King of heaven considers you among His special treasures. He has rescued you from the grip of sin and death. He claims you as His own. The King’s voice says, “This one I love. This one is mine.” By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
Can you recall a time when someone genuinely called you “special”? What effect did it have on you? What does it mean for you to know that you’re precious to God?
High King of heaven, my identity is found entirely in You, and You call me Your special treasure. I know this isn’t because of anything I’ve done, but because of everything You are.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 25, 2019
The Secret of Spiritual Consistency
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.
State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. “…it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.…we preach Christ crucified…” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).
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
Monday, November 25, 2019
Small Leaks - #8576
The Titanic couldn't miss that iceberg. These days, you can't miss the Titanic. Ever since they found the unsinkable ship where it sank two and a half miles beneath the sea, there's been a rekindled fascination with the Titanic. As they have studied the wreckage with the latest underwater technology, they've discovered some surprising new information about what happened to the grandest ocean liner in history. It was the equivalent of four city blocks in length! Now most people have probably pictured the Titanic plowing into this huge iceberg and opening up a gaping hole in it. But now we know that the Titanic basically just sideswiped that iceberg; in fact, many passengers didn't even know anything had happened. And it wasn't some gaping hole that sank the unsinkable ship. It was what one newspaper called, "small wounds that doomed the Titanic." There were six relatively small punctures in the hull - "pin pricks" according to a TV special on the subject. Here's a ship that was 95,000 square feet in size, and it was sunk by little leaks that one article said, all put together, would have been about 12 square feet - about the size of a door!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Small Leaks."
That's all it takes to sink a mighty ship, or a mighty man or woman of God. Song of Songs 2:15, our word for today from the Word of God says, "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom." Big vineyard ruined by little foxes. Big ship sunk by small leaks. It's no wonder that God's wisdom tells us to catch the little foxes, or stop the small leaks. Don't wait for them to get big.
So many people who were growing in Christ and making a difference for Him have tragically sunk - human Titanics - because of what seemed to be small moral or ethical or spiritual leaks. So small that they didn't think they could do any damage; so small they didn't need to be dealt with. So small nobody noticed. Well, they were dead wrong. Leaders have sunk from those small leaks, entire ministries, marriages, reputations, businesses, and many followers of Jesus.
It might not be a major crash that could bring you down. It might be just a seemingly minor scrape. But if you underestimate the power of sin and compromise, even if it seems small at the time, you'll discover too late the deadly damage it can do.
Honestly, now, where is the small spiritual leak in your life? Maybe it's just a small financial compromise, a little lie, a little flirtation with sexual sin, or some small fantasies that are setting you up for a major fall. Maybe you're dating someone you know you shouldn't be, you're watching or listening to input that's slowly wearing down your resistance to sin. Or maybe it's just a little gossip, a little complaining, a little bad attitude, or a little spiritual vacation.
But little leaks like those are big enough for you to start taking on the water that can sink you. If you can't see where the water might be coming in, then pray David's insightful prayer, "Search me, O God, and see if there be any wicked way in me." Remember, Satan seldom destroys people by explosion. He does it by erosion - that gradual wearing you down that eventually prepares you for the big cave-in where you end up going where you were sure you would never go.
Maybe God is trying to send you a warning through this little visit today, to go after those little foxes, to plug those small leaks before you lose more than you could have ever imagined. It happened to the Titanic; it can happen to you. But it doesn't have to if you act now.
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