Max Lucado Daily: FEAR OF DISAPPOINTING GOD
“A person can request forgiveness only so many times,” contends our common sense. If the devil can convince us that God’s grace has limited funds, we’ll draw the logical conclusion. The account is empty; we have no access to God.
“Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus spoke these words to a paraplegic in Matthew 9:2. Jesus was thinking about our deepest problem– sin. He was considering our deepest fear– the fear of failing God. God keeps no list of our wrongs. His love casts out fear because he casts out sin! I John 3:20 says, “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 9
An Open Table for Mephibosheth
9 One day David asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family? If so, I’d like to show him some kindness in honor of Jonathan.”
2 It happened that a servant from Saul’s household named Ziba was there. They called him into David’s presence. The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?”
“Yes sir,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there anyone left from the family of Saul to whom I can show some godly kindness?”
Ziba told the king, “Yes, there is Jonathan’s son, lame in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?”
“He’s living at the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
5 King David didn’t lose a minute. He sent and got him from the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan (who was the son of Saul), came before David, he bowed deeply, abasing himself, honoring David.
David spoke his name: “Mephibosheth.”
“Yes sir?”
7 “Don’t be frightened,” said David. “I’d like to do something special for you in memory of your father Jonathan. To begin with, I’m returning to you all the properties of your grandfather Saul. Furthermore, from now on you’ll take all your meals at my table.”
8 Shuffling and stammering, not looking him in the eye, Mephibosheth said, “Who am I that you pay attention to a stray dog like me?”
9-10 David then called in Ziba, Saul’s right-hand man, and told him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and his family, I’ve handed over to your master’s grandson. You and your sons and your servants will work his land and bring in the produce, provisions for your master’s grandson. Mephibosheth himself, your master’s grandson, from now on will take all his meals at my table.” Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11-12 “All that my master the king has ordered his servant,” answered Ziba, “your servant will surely do.”
And Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, just like one of the royal family. Mephibosheth also had a small son named Mica. All who were part of Ziba’s household were now the servants of Mephibosheth.
13 Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, taking all his meals at the king’s table. He was lame in both feet.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Read: Matthew 6:25–34
“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
INSIGHT
Matthew 6:19–34 emphasizes that true discipleship requires a lifestyle in which all we do is unified by our love for God. In verse 22, for example, Jesus suggests that, just as an eye defect distorts our whole vision, so our entire being becomes corrupted when our priorities are distorted. It’s impossible, He emphasizes, to be devoted to more than one “master” (v. 24).
This, Jesus suggests, is why worry can be so dangerous. It’s only natural to feel anxiety, but when worry is what drives us, devotion to our own peace of mind may have replaced a single-minded devotion to God and the just ways of His kingdom. - Monica Brands
An Alternative to Worry
By Dave Branon
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27
A law-abiding, honest man received a voicemail that said, “This is officer _______ from the police department. Please call me at this number.” Immediately the man began to worry—afraid that somehow he had done something wrong. He was afraid to return the call, and he even spent sleepless nights running through possible scenarios—worried that he was in some kind of trouble. The officer never called back, but it took weeks for the worry to go away.
Jesus asked an interesting question about worry: “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27). Perhaps this can help us rethink our tendency to worry, because it suggests that it doesn’t help the situation we’re concerned about.
When problems are on the horizon for us, maybe we can try the following two-step approach: Take action and trust in God. If we can do something to avoid the problem, let’s try that route. We can pray for God to guide us to an action we should take. But if there’s nothing we can do, we can take comfort in knowing that God never finds Himself in such a predicament. He can always act on our behalf. We can always turn our situation over to Him in trust and confidence.
When it feels like time to worry, may we turn to the inspired words of King David, who faced his own share of difficulties and worries, but concluded: “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). What a great alternative to worry!
What worries do you need to give to God today?
Father, You know what faces me today. I am turning my cares over to You. Please strengthen me and help me to trust You with the struggles I face.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Is My Sacrifice Living?
Abraham built an altar…; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar… —Genesis 22:9
This event is a picture of the mistake we make in thinking that the ultimate God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, that is, sacrifice our lives. Not— “Lord, I am ready to go with You…to death” (Luke 22:33). But— “I am willing to be identified with Your death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.”
We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this error, and the same process is at work in our lives. God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself. It is a matter of loosening the bands that hold back our lives. Those bands are loosened immediately by identification with the death of Jesus. Then we enter into a relationship with God whereby we may sacrifice our lives to Him.
It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a “living sacrifice”— to let Him have all your strengths that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus (Romans 12:1). This is what is acceptable to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Going Back to Where You Started - #8347
Mackinaw Island in Michigan is one of the special places in America. It's a romantic island. It's surrounded by three of the Great Lakes. There are no cars, just bikes, horses and carriages. For my wife and me, it's a very special place. It's where we honeymooned many years ago, and again on a special anniversary when our kids gave it to us as a gift. They gave us some nights on our honeymoon island to celebrate that milestone anniversary. When we were newlyweds, we couldn't afford to stay in a hotel on the island. We could barely afford a cheap motel on the mainland. This time we actually stayed on Mackinaw Island, and we had a great time. Being there actually took us back to the very beginnings of our life together, when there were no children, no grandchildren, and a lot less responsibility. It was good to get back to where it started – one man and one woman in love.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Going Back to Where You Started."
It's a good thing to stop the world for a little while and go back to where it all began. For couples, yeah, but even more for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ. In fact, maybe Jesus is inviting you even now to go back with Him to where it all began.
In Matthew 28:10, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus has just blasted out of His grave on Easter morning, and He has a message for His disciples: "Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me." And they did. It was there that Jesus said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:18-19).
Why this trip back to Galilee to be with Jesus? They were in Jerusalem. That's like a long 90-mile walk from Galilee. And Jesus would send them back to Jerusalem to start their mission. So why are we going back to Galilee? Well, I believe it was because that's where it all began. That's where they met Christ. That's where they abandoned everything to follow Christ. And that's where they needed to go after all the battles, the failures, the mountains, and the valleys that they had experienced since they met Jesus and before He launched them on a mission beyond belief.
I think Jesus may be asking you to go back to your Galilee, to remember the wonder of what He did to rescue you, the things about Him that captured your heart then; the time you surrendered fully to His purposes for your life. All of that tends to get obscured by all the knowledge you've acquired, all the responsibilities you've taken on, all the disappointments and disillusionment, all the complexities of your life. Jesus is saying, "Come back with Me to where we started, so you can remember again just who I am, who you are, and just what I've created you to do."
When you started, it was pretty simple: one man or one woman following one Savior wherever He was going. Now with all the other voices in your life, it must still be that one man or woman following that one Savior. He wants to go back to that point where you sensed things that He was calling you to do. It's still His calling on your life, no matter what's happened to you since then.
And there was probably a time and a place where you totally surrendered to Him – no strings attached – maybe at a camp, a conference, in church,or just alone in your room. You didn't care where that commitment took you did you, how much money you had, what sacrifices would be required? You were all His for whatever He wanted you to be and whatever He wanted you to do. Maybe that unconditional surrender has become a conditional surrender, encumbered by your position, your possessions, your convenience, your comfort, a lot of stuff. And Jesus is calling you back to that original surrender where it all began.
It's time to go back to your Galilee – to rekindle your first love and remember that it's still all about Jesus. Jesus wants to bring you back to where it all started so He can take your life where it's never gone before!
