Max Lucado Daily: FEAR OF WHAT IS NEXT
Life comes with surprises. On our list of fears, the fear of what’s next demands a prominent position. In John 14:27, on the eve of his death Jesus promised his followers, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
Heaven’s message is clear– when everything else changes, God’s presence never does. As Jesus sends you into new seasons, you journey in the company of the Holy Spirit. So make friends with whatever’s next. Embrace it. Change is not only a part of life; change is a necessary part of God’s strategy. To use us to change the world, God makes reassignments.
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 20
Just then a good-for-nothing named Sheba son of Bicri the Benjaminite blew a blast on the ram’s horn trumpet, calling out,
We’ve got nothing to do with David,
there’s no future for us with the son of Jesse!
Let’s get out of here, Israel—head for your tents!
2-3 So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stayed committed, sticking with their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem. When David arrived home in Jerusalem, the king took the ten concubines he had left to watch the palace and placed them in seclusion, under guard. He provided for their needs but didn’t visit them. They were virtual prisoners until they died, widows as long as they lived.
4-10 The king ordered Amasa, “Muster the men of Judah for me in three days; then report in.” Amasa went to carry out his orders, but he was late reporting back. So David told Abishai, “Sheba son of Bicri is going to hurt us even worse than Absalom did. Take your master’s servants and hunt him down before he gets holed up in some fortress city where we can’t get to him.” So under Abishai’s command, all the best men—Joab’s men and the Kerethites and Pelethites—left Jerusalem to hunt down Sheba son of Bicri. They were near the boulder at Gibeon when Amasa came their way. Joab was wearing a tunic with a sheathed sword strapped on his waist, but the sword slipped out and fell to the ground. Joab greeted Amasa, “How are you, brother?” and took Amasa’s beard in his right hand as if to kiss him. Amasa didn’t notice the sword in Joab’s other hand. Joab stuck him in the belly and his guts spilled to the ground. A second blow wasn’t needed; he was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai continued to chase Sheba son of Bicri.
11-14 One of Joab’s soldiers took up his post over the body and called out, “Everyone who sides with Joab and supports David, follow Joab!” Amasa was lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the road; the man realized that the whole army was going to stop and take a look, so he pulled Amasa’s corpse off the road into the field and threw a blanket over him so it wouldn’t collect spectators. As soon as he’d gotten him off the road, the traffic flowed normally, following Joab in the chase after Sheba son of Bicri. Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel as far as Abel Beth Maacah; all the Bicrites clustered and followed him into the city.
15 Joab’s army arrived and laid siege to Sheba in Abel Beth Maacah. They built a siege-ramp up against the city’s fortification. The plan was to knock down the wall.
16-17 But a shrewd woman called out from the city, “Listen, everybody! Please tell Joab to come close so I can talk to him.” When he had come, the woman said, “Are you Joab?”
He said, “I am.”
“Then,” she said, “listen to what I have to say.”
He said, “I’m listening.”
18-19 “There’s an old saying in these parts: ‘If it’s answers you want, come to Abel and get it straight.’ We’re a peaceful people here, and reliable. And here you are, trying to tear down one of Israel’s mother cities. Why would you want to mess with God’s legacy like that?”
20-21 Joab protested, “Believe me, you’ve got me all wrong. I’m not here to hurt anyone or destroy anything—not on your life! But a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bicri by name, revolted against King David; hand him over, him only, and we’ll get out of here.”
The woman told Joab, “Sounds good. His head will be tossed to you from the wall.”
22 The woman presented her strategy to the whole city and they did it: They cut off the head of Sheba son of Bicri and tossed it down to Joab. He then blew a blast on the ram’s horn trumpet and the soldiers all went home. Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
23-26 Joab was again commander of the whole army of Israel. Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; Adoniram over the work crews; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was clerk; Sheva was historian; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; Ira the Jairite was David’s chaplain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 28, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 94:2
God, put an end to evil;
avenging God, show your colors!
Judge of the earth, take your stand;
throw the book at the arrogant.
Who stood up for me against the wicked?
Who took my side against evil workers?
If God hadn’t been there for me,
I never would have made it.
The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,”
your love, God, took hold and held me fast.
When I was upset and beside myself,
you calmed me down and cheered me up.
20-23 Can Misrule have anything in common with you?
Can Troublemaker pretend to be on your side?
They ganged up on good people,
plotted behind the backs of the innocent.
But God became my hideout,
God was my high mountain retreat,
Then boomeranged their evil back on them:
for their evil ways he wiped them out,
our God cleaned them out for good.
Insight
There are many prayers recorded in the Bible, but the book of Psalms is dedicated to followers of God actively talking to God. The psalms are full of the raw emotions of God’s people. Sorrow, joy, confusion, anger, desperation, praise, and lament can be read from beginning to end. We often turn to them when we need encouragement to share our deepest and truest feelings with God. The psalms not only teach us about God, but perhaps primarily we see how the people of ancient Israel, both individually and corporately, approached Him. While there were prescribed rites and rituals that happened in the temple, the psalms show us God as a personal God who relates to individuals with specific and personal concerns. By: J.R. Hudberg
The Mood Mender
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.
Psalm 94:19
As I waited at the train station for my weekly commute, negative thoughts crowded my mind like commuters lining up to board a train—stress over debt, unkind remarks said to me, helplessness in the face of a recent injustice done to a family member. By the time the train arrived, I was in a terrible mood.
On the train, another thought came to mind: write a note to God, giving Him my lament. Soon after I finished pouring out my complaints in my journal, I pulled out my phone and listened to the praise songs in my library. Before I knew it, my bad mood had completely changed.
Little did I know that I was following a pattern set by the writer of Psalm 94. The psalmist first poured out his complaints: “Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve. . . . Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?” (Psalm 94:2, 16.) He didn’t hold anything back as he talked to God about injustice done to widows and orphans. Once he’d made his lament to God, the psalm transitioned into praise: “But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge” (v. 22).
God invites us to take our laments to Him. He can turn our fear, sadness, and helplessness into praise.
By Linda Washington
Today's Reflection
Lord, I pour out my heart to You. Take my hurts and my anger, and grant me Your peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 28, 2019
How Could Someone So Persecute Jesus!
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? —Acts 26:14
Are you determined to have your own way in living for God? We will never be free from this trap until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Stubbornness and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self-respect, we systematically disturb and grieve His Spirit. And when we finally understand that it is Jesus we have been persecuting all this time, it is the most crushing revelation ever.
Is the Word of God tremendously penetrating and sharp in me as I hand it on to you, or does my life betray the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the very spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of only one thing— a perfect oneness with the Father. And He tells us, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). All I do should be based on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that others may use me, go around me, or completely ignore me, but if I will submit to it for His sake, I will prevent Jesus Christ from being persecuted.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Much of the misery in our Christian life comes not because the devil tackles us, but because we have never understood the simple laws of our make-up. We have to treat the body as the servant of Jesus Christ: when the body says “Sit,” and He says “Go,” go! When the body says “Eat,” and He says “Fast,” fast! When the body says “Yawn,” and He says “Pray,” pray! Biblical Ethics, 107 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 28, 2019
Flowers In The Snow - #8361
It was early February and we had just gotten several inches of snow – the wet, heavy kind. As you probably know, February is about the time that cabin fever starts to set in for those of us who have something called winter, and we're really ready for the cold to be over. Well, sometimes it isn't at that point; it could last for a few more weeks. But I saw something so amazing that day of the February snow that I went for my camera to take pictures of it. On the south side of our shed, I saw something just barely peeking out from the snow. It was the shoots of our yellow daffodils! I brushed off the snow and captured it on film – the promise of a coming spring in the middle of a very wintry day!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flowers In The Snow."
Winter isn't just a season on the calendar. It's a season in our lives, too; a recurring season – those stretches (sometimes long stretches) when it's dark more than usual, when life seems cold and even bitter sometimes. If it's winter for you right now, you need to take a walk to the other side where there might be some flowers in the snow. No, your winter isn't over, but God wants you to know that it won't last forever either. Though the signs may be faint and few, there's a spring on its way!
Jesus talks to us about our winters in our word for today from the Word of God. In John 16, beginning with verse 20. He's preparing His disciples for the cold and bitter season they're about to head into as He goes to the cross and ultimately leaves them to return to heaven. But what He says to them about their winter is also true of yours. He says: "You will grieve..." Now, I'm glad He said that. There's no denying of the hurt that we have in our heart. "You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy (or your winter will turn to spring!). A woman giving birth has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy...So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."
There it is. It may be winter now, but spring is coming. Hope is the knowledge that it won't always be this way! The broken heart will start to heal. God's new things will start to fill up your life, the prayers will be answered, this trial will pass, and God will turn your pain into a mighty ministry in other people's lives. Somehow, as Romans 15:13 says, "the God of hope (will) fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
And my guess is that even in the middle of your winter, there are, somewhere in your life, a few flowers peeking through the snow. They're harbingers of hope. Ask God for eyes to see some of the little hints of the good things He's planning for you. Part of God's strategy for hope says this: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Or maybe "flowers in the snow."
Don't succumb to the darkness. Don't succumb to the coldness of the winter you're in right now. While it's cold all around you, God is quietly, invisibly preparing the seeds of the spring ahead. But you've got to be faithful in your winter. Look for those little signs of the better season coming.
No, your winter isn't over, but your winter isn't forever either. We can learn a lot about the seasons of our life by God's seasons of the year. I've lived a lot of winters, and I've never seen a winter that wasn't followed by a spring.
