Max Lucado Daily: POSSIBLE LIFE WITHOUT FEAR
n Matthew 8:26, Jesus asks his disciples, “Why are you afraid?” At first we wonder if he’s serious. But he’s dead earnest. Here is how Matthew remembered the trip: “Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him. A great storm arose on the lake so that waves covered the boat.”
This story sends the not-so-subtle and not-too-popular reminder that getting on board with Christ can mean getting soaked with Christ. Disciples can expect rough seas and stout winds. Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation.” Not might, may, or could, but will have. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? This is the possibility behind Jesus’ question. Imagine your life without fear.
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 6
David mustered the pick of the troops of Israel—thirty divisions of them. Together with his soldiers, David headed for Baalah to recover the Chest of God, which was called by the Name God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who was enthroned over the pair of angels on the Chest.
3-7 They placed the Chest of God on a brand-new oxcart and removed it from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were driving the new cart loaded with the Chest of God, Ahio in the lead and Uzzah alongside the Chest. David and the whole company of Israel were in the parade, singing at the top of their lungs and playing mandolins, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, so Uzzah reached out and grabbed the Chest of God. God blazed in anger against Uzzah and struck him hard because he had profaned the Chest. Uzzah died on the spot, right alongside the Chest.
8-11 Then David got angry because of God’s deadly outburst against Uzzah. That place is still called Perez Uzzah (The-Explosion-Against-Uzzah). David became fearful of God that day and said, “This Chest is too hot to handle. How can I ever get it back to the City of David?” He refused to take the Chest of God a step farther. Instead, David removed it off the road and to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The Chest of God stayed at the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. And God prospered Obed-Edom and his entire household.
12-16 It was reported to King David that God had prospered Obed-Edom and his entire household because of the Chest of God. So David thought, “I’ll get that blessing for myself,” and went and brought up the Chest of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David, celebrating extravagantly all the way, with frequent sacrifices of choice bulls. David, ceremonially dressed in priest’s linen, danced with great abandon before God. The whole country was with him as he accompanied the Chest of God with shouts and trumpet blasts. But as the Chest of God came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, happened to be looking out a window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before God, her heart filled with scorn.
17-19 They brought the Chest of God and set it in the middle of the tent pavilion that David had pitched for it. Then and there David worshiped, offering burnt offerings and peace offerings. When David had completed the sacrifices of burnt and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies and handed out to each person in the crowd, men and women alike, a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. Then everyone went home.
20-22 David returned home to bless his family. Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to greet him: “How wonderfully the king has distinguished himself today—exposing himself to the eyes of the servants’ maids like some burlesque street dancer!” David replied to Michal, “In God’s presence I’ll dance all I want! He chose me over your father and the rest of our family and made me prince over God’s people, over Israel. Oh yes, I’ll dance to God’s glory—more recklessly even than this. And as far as I’m concerned . . . I’ll gladly look like a fool . . . but among these maids you’re so worried about, I’ll be honored no end.”
23 Michal, Saul’s daughter, was barren the rest of her life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 01, 2019
Read: Ecclesiastes 9:4–12
Seize Life!
4-6 Still, anyone selected out for life has hope, for, as they say, “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” The living at least know something, even if it’s only that they’re going to die. But the dead know nothing and get nothing. They’re a minus that no one remembers. Their loves, their hates, yes, even their dreams, are long gone. There’s not a trace of them left in the affairs of this earth.
7-10 Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.
11 I took another walk around the neighborhood and realized that on this earth as it is—
The race is not always to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor satisfaction to the wise,
Nor riches to the smart,
Nor grace to the learned.
Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.
12 No one can predict misfortune.
Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds in a trap,
So men and women are caught
By accidents evil and sudden.
INSIGHT
Ecclesiastes is a book about despair over the futility of life in a broken world. This idea is captured in Solomon’s repeated phrase, “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” (1:2). But Ecclesiastes also offers hope in the midst of that futility. In chapter 3, Solomon says that God has put eternity in our hearts (v. 11). While fully engaging in the world and the times in which we live, followers of Christ can also look ahead to eternity with God. - Bill Crowder
New Year, New Priorities
By Poh Fang Chia
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Ecclesiastes 9:10
I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the cello. But I’ve never found the time to enroll in a class. Or, perhaps more accurately, I haven’t made the time for it. I had thought that in heaven I could probably master that instrument. In the meantime, I wanted to focus on using my time in the particular ways God has called me to serve Him now.
Life is short, and we often feel the pressure to make the most of our time on Earth before it slips away. But what does that really mean?
As King Solomon contemplated the meaning of life, he offered two recommendations. First, we’re to live in the most meaningful way we can, which includes fully enjoying the good things God allows us to experience in life, such as food and drink (Ecclesiastes 9:7), clothing and perfume (v. 8 nlt), marriage (v. 9), and all of God’s good gifts—which might include learning how to play the cello!
His second recommendation was diligent work (v. 10). Life is full of opportunities, and there is always more work to be done. We’re to take advantage of the opportunities God gives us, seeking His wisdom on how to prioritize work and play in a way that uses our gifting to serve Him.
Life is a wonderful gift from the Lord. We honor Him when we take pleasure both in His daily blessings and in meaningful service.
Father, thank You for this life You’ve given me. Help me to live this new year for You, enjoying Your blessings and fulfilling Your purposes.
We can both enjoy God’s blessings and be a blessing to others
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 01, 2019
Let Us Keep to the Point
"…my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." —Philippians 1:20
My Utmost for His Highest. “…my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed….” We will all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus the areas of our lives He has asked us to yield to Him. It’s as if Paul were saying, “My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest— my best for His glory.” To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making that decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering. When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point— He does know. Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only— my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.
My Unstoppable Determination for His Holiness. “Whether it means life or death-it makes no difference!” (see Philippians 1:21). Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted. But before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and we begin to debate. He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide— for or against. That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives. If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely and irrevocably.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 not yet available.....
Human Jumper Cables - #5472 Tuesday, January 01, 2008
One little light. That's all it took to render our car totally unusable. The little light in the rear of our vehicle was left on one night after we unloaded some things, and it stayed on for several days while we were gone. When we got back, everything in that car said, "I'm not starting, pal!" because that one little light totally drained our battery, of course. But then came the hero—our friend in his pickup truck with his trusty jumper cables. And those cables delivered the energy that my flat old battery needed to run again!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Human Jumper Cables."
What does it take to get a drained and tired battery going again? A jolt from jumper cables that infuses the energy needed to revive it. And what does it take to get a drained and tired person going again? Human jumper cables that deliver new energy to revive them.
I'm guessing that you know someone right now who is pretty depleted—emotionally, mentally, maybe spiritually, even physically. When they turn the key, not much is happening because their battles, their responsibilities have left them unable to get going again. That's why God has given us each other. To be jumper cables for each other when we sense that someone we know is pretty run down. If you've got your eyes open for them, you'll see someone in need of an emotional and spiritual "jump" most every day of your life.
There's a wonderful example of that in II Timothy 1:16-17, our word for today from the Word of God. This is the last letter Paul ever wrote. He's away from most of his friends, he's locked up in Caesar's prison in Rome, and he knows he may never leave there alive. And in fact, he won't. Then along comes an unsung hero named Onesiphorus, and he is God's jumper cables to help the great apostle find the energy to go on. Listen to Paul's testimony and think about how you can be this for someone you know: "May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains...When he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me."
When you're one of God's jump starters, you wake up in the morning and you say, "Lord, show me who needs me today." Then you look for, even go out of your way if necessary, to call that person who needs encouragement, to write them, e-mail them, visit with them, or just stop and take time with them. It's almost always a sacrifice to do that because of all the things you have to do. But you may have nothing more important to do than this extension of Jesus' love to someone who's really depleted. Your joy can jump start theirs. Your praying in faith can jump start theirs. Your affirmation of their value and their significance can jump start them believing it again themselves. Your belief in them can re-energize their courage to get back in the ring for another round. Your reminder of who they really are to God and to you may be just the spiritual jolt they need to get going again.
You may say, "Yeah, well, I need someone to jump start me!" You're thinking a lot lately about your burdens, your problems, and your feelings. The greatest way to get out of your pit is to reach out and help someone else get out of theirs. Proverbs 11:25 says: "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."
You have what someone needs today to get started again. Don't just cruise on by, oblivious to the needs right in front of you. "Lord, show me who needs me today." That's the prayer that will make you the conduit to deliver the resources of God to someone who really can't go on without them. You are God’s jumper cables!
