Max Lucado Daily: WHEN BEING GOOD ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH
Paul writes in Romans 3:10, “There is no one who always does what is right, not even one.” And he adds, “All have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory.” Then how do you go to heaven?
The two criminals being crucified with Jesus mocked him. But Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing.” Then one thief began to defend Jesus saying, “We are punished justly, getting what we deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong.” The core of the gospel in one sentence—through the mouth of a crook. Then the thief asks, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
What right does he have to beg for forgiveness? The same right you have. We, like the thief, hear the voice of grace. Today you will be with me in my kingdom.
Read more He Still Moves Stones
Psalm 61
A David Psalm
61 1-2 God, listen to me shout,
bend an ear to my prayer.
When I’m far from anywhere,
down to my last gasp,
I call out, “Guide me
up High Rock Mountain!”
3-5 You’ve always given me breathing room,
a place to get away from it all,
A lifetime pass to your safe-house,
an open invitation as your guest.
You’ve always taken me seriously, God,
made me welcome among those who know and love you.
6-8 Let the days of the king add up
to years and years of good rule.
Set his throne in the full light of God;
post Steady Love and Good Faith as lookouts,
And I’ll be the poet who sings your glory—
and live what I sing every day.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 125:1-5
A Pilgrim Song
125 1-5 Those who trust in God
are like Zion Mountain:
Nothing can move it, a rock-solid mountain
you can always depend on.
Mountains encircle Jerusalem,
and God encircles his people—
always has and always will.
The fist of the wicked
will never violate
What is due the righteous,
provoking wrongful violence.
Be good to your good people, God,
to those whose hearts are right!
God will round up the backsliders,
corral them with the incorrigibles.
Peace over Israel!
Insight
The psalms are often gritty reflections of the life of the writer, songs where people express themselves to God and to each other in all the circumstances of life—good, bad, happy, sad, frustrating, grieving, and every other emotion we experience. They are honest reflections on the difficulty of life in this world. Today’s psalm is no different. One of the “Songs of Ascent” (songs sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for one of three annual festivals), this psalm contains a surprising statement. While there’s often a distinction made between the righteous and the wicked, verse 3 warns us that even the righteous have the potential to do evil. By: J.R. Hudberg
Surrounded by God
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and for evermore.
Psalm 125:2
In a busy airport, a young mother struggled alone. Her toddler was in full tantrum mode—screaming, kicking, and refusing to board their plane. Overwhelmed and heavily pregnant, the burdened young mother finally gave up, sinking to the floor in frustration, covering her face, and starting to sob.
Suddenly six or seven women travelers, all strangers, formed a circle around the young mother and her child—sharing snacks, water, gentle hugs, and even a nursery song. Their loving circle calmed the mother and child, who then boarded their plane. The other women returned to their seats, not needing to discuss what they had done, but knowing their support had strengthened a young mother exactly when she needed it.
This illustrates a beautiful truth from Psalm 125. “As the mountains surround Jerusalem,” says verse 2, “so the Lord surrounds his people.” The image reminds us how the bustling city of Jerusalem is, indeed, flanked by surrounding hills—among them the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion, and Mount Moriah.
In this same way, God surrounds His people—supporting and standing guard over our souls “both now and for evermore.” Thus, on tough days, look up, “unto the hills,” as the psalmist puts it (Psalm 121:1 kjv). God awaits with strong help, steady hope, and everlasting love. By Patricia Raybon
Today's Reflection
How have you sensed the Lord surrounding you with His love? Who can you share His love with today?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?
"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?" —John 11:7-8
Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.
Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 28, 2019
The Most Dangerous Runaway of All - #8404
A runaway train: that's how they billed the upcoming story on the evening news, and I stayed tuned. They weren't exaggerating. Somehow a freight train (this actually happened in Ohio a few years ago) started rolling down the tracks with no one on board. It kept rolling for many miles across the Ohio countryside, sometimes at speeds of nearly 60 MPH. It was pretty amazing to see the footage of a railroad intersection, lights blinking, gates down, cars stopped, and here is a train just rolling through without anyone at the controls. Well, using a combination of ingenuity and heroism, they finally managed to get a couple of men aboard who were able to stop it. And that's a very good thing!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Dangerous Runaway of All."
A runaway train - a lot of damage possible. But it's not the most dangerous runaway of all. No, that would be a runaway mouth; which way too many of us have way too much of the time.
Listen to what our word for today from the Word of God has to say about it in Proverbs 12:18. "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Most of our words either have a healing effect or a hurting effect. Tragically, we just let too many reckless words come pouring out; critical words, negative words, accusations, frustrations, complaints, putdowns, sarcasm. Usually we don't have malicious intent, but still our runaway words leave wounds and walls that we may not even realize. Often we'll say something that we've forgotten by bedtime, but the person who heard it may remember it for years to come.
That's why God tells us in Ecclesiastes 5, "Do not be quick with your mouth...Do not let your mouth lead you into sin" (Ecclesiastes 5:2, 6). We probably all need a wall plaque of that don't you think? If you have a tendency to be "quick with your mouth," the odds are your mouth is doing way too much sinning. For a lot of us, if we think it, we say it without considering the damage it may do to someone's reputation, to someone's worth, to a relationship, to unity, to our Lord's reputation.
I really don't think some of us understand the weight of our words. We don't realize how deep our words go, how much people remember what we say, how much we're quoted to others, or how much we're affecting other people's attitudes. For us, we're just unloading our feelings or our opinion and then moving on. But our words leave a trail, and often as they are said of the forced march of Native tribes years ago, it's a "trail of tears."
Which is why a man like David prayed a prayer like he prayed in Psalm 141:3. Remember, the Bible says David was a "man after God's own heart" who really wanted to be God's man. And recognizing the power of his words, he prayed, "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." That's a prayer some of us may need to pray every day, to post on a wall, maybe on a mirror somewhere, to commit to memory for frequent recall. "Lord, please help me to think about what I'm saying and before I say it. Help me guard what I let come out of my mouth. Help me hear what I sound like to other people, and help me to measure what I say."
Yes, a runaway train is a scary thought, and there's no telling who it may hurt or who it may injure. But a runaway mouth? In a lot of ways that's scarier and it's a lot more common. So much damage done that could be avoided if we'll just keep that train in our mouth from running off on its own.