Max Lucado Daily: FEAR OF WORST-CASE SCENARIOS
What’s your worst fear? Jesus did more than speak about fear. He faced it. In Mark 14:35-36, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane’s garden, “‘Abba, Father,’ everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’”
The cup equaled Jesus’ worst-case scenario– to be the recipient of God’s wrath and to experience isolation from his Father. And what Jesus did with his fear shows us what to do with ours. He prayed! He even requested the prayer support of friends. Jesus’ prayer was brief. It was straightforward and trusting. Do likewise. Be specific about your fears. Call them out in prayer. Make them stand before God and take their comeuppance!
Read more Fearless
Psalm 69
A David Psalm
69 God, God, save me!
I’m in over my head,
2 Quicksand under me, swamp water over me;
I’m going down for the third time.
3 I’m hoarse from calling for help,
Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.
4 I’ve got more enemies than hairs on my head;
Sneaks and liars are out to knife me in the back.
What I never stole
Must I now give back?
5 God, you know every sin I’ve committed;
My life’s a wide-open book before you.
6 Don’t let those who look to you in hope
Be discouraged by what happens to me,
Dear Lord! God of the armies!
Don’t let those out looking for you
Come to a dead end by following me—
Please, dear God of Israel!
7 Because of you I look like an idiot,
I walk around ashamed to show my face.
8 My brothers shun me like a bum off the street;
My family treats me like an unwanted guest.
9 I love you more than I can say.
Because I’m madly in love with you,
They blame me for everything they dislike about you.
10 When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting,
All it got me was more contempt.
11 When I put on a sad face,
They treated me like a clown.
12 Now drunks and gluttons
Make up drinking songs about me.
13 And me? I pray.
God, it’s time for a break!
God, answer in love!
Answer with your sure salvation!
14 Rescue me from the swamp,
Don’t let me go under for good,
Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;
This whirlpool is sucking me down.
15 Don’t let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole
Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.
16 Now answer me, God, because you love me;
Let me see your great mercy full-face.
17 Don’t look the other way; your servant can’t take it.
I’m in trouble. Answer right now!
18 Come close, God; get me out of here.
Rescue me from this deathtrap.
19 You know how they kick me around—
Pin on me the donkey’s ears, the dunce’s cap.
20 I’m broken by their taunts,
Flat on my face, reduced to a nothing.
I looked in vain for one friendly face. Not one.
I couldn’t find one shoulder to cry on.
21 They put poison in my soup,
Vinegar in my drink.
22 Let their supper be bait in a trap that snaps shut;
May their best friends be trappers who’ll skin them alive.
23 Make them become blind as bats,
Give them the shakes from morning to night.
24 Let them know what you think of them,
Blast them with your red-hot anger.
25 Burn down their houses,
Leave them desolate with nobody at home.
26 They gossiped about the one you disciplined,
Made up stories about anyone wounded by God.
27 Pile on the guilt,
Don’t let them off the hook.
28 Strike their names from the list of the living;
No rock-carved honor for them among the righteous.
29 I’m hurt and in pain;
Give me space for healing, and mountain air.
30 Let me shout God’s name with a praising song,
Let me tell his greatness in a prayer of thanks.
31 For God, this is better than oxen on the altar,
Far better than blue-ribbon bulls.
32 The poor in spirit see and are glad—
Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!
33 For God listens to the poor,
He doesn’t walk out on the wretched.
34 You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth;
Also ocean and all things that swim in it.
35 For God is out to help Zion,
Rebuilding the wrecked towns of Judah.
Guess who will live there—
The proud owners of the land?
36 No, the children of his servants will get it,
The lovers of his name will live in it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 21, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 19:1-6
A David Psalm
19 1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.
3-4 Their words aren’t heard,
their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
4-5 God makes a huge dome
for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
racing to the tape.
6 That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts,
warming hearts to faith.
Insight
Psalm 19 celebrates God’s revealing of Himself to humanity through creation (vv. 1–6; often referred to as general revelation), and through Scripture (vv. 7–11; often referred to as special revelation). Interestingly, verses 1–6 use the general title for God (El), while in verses 7–14 the speaker chooses the personal title for God in the Old Testament of YHWH (“the Lord”).
Although creation powerfully and wordlessly reveals God’s care and power over all creation (vv. 2, 3, 6), this psalm paints a picture of how through Scripture God reveals Himself more intimately, in a way that transforms our lives (vv. 7–11). And, knowing our weaknesses, the psalmist confesses that this growth in intimacy with God is only possible through grace (vv. 12–14). God reveals Himself, not only through creation and Scripture, but through powerfully redeeming His people (v. 14). - By: Monica Brands
Creation’s Song
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1
Using acoustic astronomy, scientists can observe and listen to the sounds and pulses of space. They’ve found that stars don’t orbit in silence in the mysterious night sky, but rather generate music. Like humpback whale sounds, the resonance of stars exists at wavelengths or frequencies that may not be heard by the human ear. Yet, the music of stars and whales and other creatures combine to create a symphony that proclaims the greatness of God.
Psalm 19:1–4 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul reveals that in Jesus “all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible . . . all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). In response, the natural world’s heights and depths sing to its Maker. May we join creation and sing out the greatness of the One who “with the breadth of his hand marked off the [vast] heavens” (Isaiah 40:12). By Remi Oyedele
Today's Reflection
How great You are, O God! Open my eyes to see You in creation’s majesty and open my heart to offer the praise You deserve.
Welcome to Remi Oyedele! Meet all our authors at odb.org/all-authors.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 21, 2019
Recall What God Remembers
Thus says the Lord: "I remember…the kindness of your youth…" —Jeremiah 2:2
Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Does everything in my life fill His heart with gladness, or do I constantly complain because things don’t seem to be going my way? A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. It is wonderful to remember that Jesus Christ has needs which we can meet— “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7). How much kindness have I shown Him in the past week? Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation?
God is saying to His people, “You are not in love with Me now, but I remember a time when you were.” He says, “I remember…the love of your betrothal…” (Jeremiah 2:2). Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He ever find me pondering the time when I cared only for Him? Is that where I am now, or have I chosen man’s wisdom over true love for Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no thought for where He might lead me? Or am I watching to see how much respect I get as I measure how much service I should give Him?
As I recall what God remembers about me, I may also begin to realize that He is not what He used to be to me. When this happens, I should allow the shame and humiliation it creates in my life, because it will bring godly sorrow, and “godly sorrow produces repentance…” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 21, 2019
The Freedom Line - #8356
I was in Cincinnati, working on the message I was going to give that night, and I had a wonderful view of the Ohio River out my hotel window. But it wasn't until I talked with an African-American brother that night that I realized the significance of that river in the history of his people's long fight for freedom. In the days of slavery, many slaves managed to run away from their slave masters, thus beginning their desperate flight for freedom. If they were captured, well, their fate could be severe punishment or even worse. If they could make it to northern Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, they were on the edge of their goal. And, once they were in what was the North, they would be helped to safety, maybe in Canada, or by those who ran safe houses on what became known as the Underground Railroad. Once I heard the history, I saw something very different as I looked out my window at the Ohio River from Cincinnati. I was thinking of slaves looking across from the border in Kentucky, realizing that if they could just get across that river, they'd finally be free.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Freedom Line."
Not all slaves wear chains; not all slaves are sold on an auction block. Some of us who have been physically free our whole lives have never really been free on the inside, like from the guilt over the mistakes in our past, from the shame over what we've been or what we've done. Some of us know what it is to be slaves to our own dark side, I mean our anger, our selfishness, those habits and patterns that we just seem powerless to break. You can even be a slave to religious bondages. There are fears, there's legalism, to the tyranny of what we feel our religion demands: so many shackles, so many slaves.
Then along comes the Liberator. His name is Jesus Christ, and He comes with what could be the very best news you have ever heard. It's recorded in John 8, beginning with verse 34. It's our word for today from the Word of God. First, the bad news: "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin." We know that all too well-slaves to sin's power, to its guilt, its consequences. Then comes the good news. "If the Son (that's Jesus, the Son of God) makes you free, you are free indeed"--freedom from life's most vicious slave master.
There is no religion, there is no spirituality, there's no ritual that can liberate you from sin's shackles. You probably have realized that. The only One who can do that is the man who bought your freedom with His blood. Jesus said He came to give His life (in His words) as a "ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He gave His life on the cross to take the guilt and the penalty for every wrong thing you have ever done. There was no other way to break sin's hold over us and to keep our sin from condemning us for all eternity.
So for you and me, the line between spiritual slavery and spiritual freedom runs by the cross of Jesus Christ. The question is: have you ever really stepped across that line and into His waiting, forgiving, healing arms? This very day you stand on the edge of an inner freedom you've never experienced before. You cross that line when you say to Jesus, "I understand now, Lord, that you loved me so much You died for me. You took the rap for my sin, and now I am going to give my life to the One who gave His life for me. I am Yours, Lord. I'm giving me to you. You're my only hope."
I hope this is the day you'll experience that freedom. Listen, it might help if you went to our website. Many people have found there just some help right from God's own words to make sure that they belong to Jesus Christ. I hope you'll visit today. In fact, it's called ANewStory.com. Because this could be the beginning of your new story.
It would be great if this day could be your personal independence day. There's an old hymn that says, "He breaks the power of cancelled sin; He sets the prisoner free." That could be you today. You're at the freedom line. I'm just praying that you'll step across.