Max Lucado Daily: REMEMBER THE UNBENDING GRACE OF CHRIST
If we’re not teaching people how to be saved, perhaps it’s because we have forgotten the tragedy of being lost! If we’re not teaching the message of forgiveness, it may be because we don’t remember what it’s like to be guilty.
When times get hard, when death looms, when anger singes, when shame weighs heavily, remember Jesus. Remember this descendant of David who beat down death.
You know a person is never the same after simultaneously seeing his or her utter despair and Christ’s unbending grace. To see the despair without the grace is suicidal. To see the grace without the despair results in futility. But to see them both…that’s conversion.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 138
A David Psalm
138 1-3 Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!”
Angels listen as I sing my thanks.
I kneel in worship facing your holy temple
and say it again: “Thank you!”
Thank you for your love,
thank you for your faithfulness;
Most holy is your name,
most holy is your Word.
The moment I called out, you stepped in;
you made my life large with strength.
4-6 When they hear what you have to say, God,
all earth’s kings will say “Thank you.”
They’ll sing of what you’ve done:
“How great the glory of God!”
And here’s why: God, high above, sees far below;
no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.
7-8 When I walk into the thick of trouble,
keep me alive in the angry turmoil.
With one hand
strike my foes,
With your other hand
save me.
Finish what you started in me, God.
Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:Proverbs 14:29–35
Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding;
a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.
30 A sound mind makes for a robust body,
but runaway emotions corrode the bones.
31 You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless;
when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God.
32 The evil of bad people leaves them out in the cold;
the integrity of good people creates a safe place for living.
33 Lady Wisdom is at home in an understanding heart—
fools never even get to say hello.
34 God-devotion makes a country strong;
God-avoidance leaves people weak.
35 Diligent work gets a warm commendation;
shiftless work earns an angry rebuke.
Insight
When considering the Wisdom Books of the Bible, an understanding of Hebrew poetry is helpful. This form of poetry was built on literary devices such as metaphors, similes, acrostics, and alliteration. Among the more complex devices found in the Proverbs are parallelisms, where the basic idea of the first half of the proverb is repeated in the second half.
Antithetical parallelism is found in six of the seven proverbs in today’s reading (vv. 29,30,31,32,34,35). In this form, an idea is presented in two different ways that are opposite to each other, using the conjunction but to show contrast. Synonymous parallelism is found in the other proverb (v. 33). Here an idea is presented by repeating it with different words and using the conjunction and to show comparison.
For more on the book of Proverbs, read Knowing God Through Proverbs at discoveryseries.org/sb130.
Peace-Filled Hearts
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. Proverbs 14:30
For forty-five years after his career as a professional athlete ended, Jerry Kramer wasn’t inducted into his sport’s hall of fame (the highest recognition). He enjoyed many other honors and achievements, but this one eluded him. Although he’d been nominated for the honor ten times, it had never been bestowed. Despite having his hopes dashed so many times, Kramer was gracious, saying, “I felt like [the National Football League] had given me 100 presents in my lifetime and to be upset or angry about one I didn’t get was kind of stupid!”
Where others might have grown bitter after being denied so many times in favor of other players, Kramer wasn’t. His attitude illustrates the way we can safeguard our hearts against the corrosive nature of envy, which “rots the bones” (Proverbs 14:30). When we become preoccupied with what we don’t have—and fail to recognize the many things we do—the peace of God will elude us.
After an eleventh nomination, Jerry Kramer ultimately was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in February 2018. Our earthly desires may not be fulfilled as his finally were. Yet we can all have a “heart at peace” when we instead focus our attention on the many ways God has been generous toward us. No matter what we want but do not have, we can always enjoy the life-giving peace He brings to our lives. By Kirsten Holmberg
Today's Reflection
In what area of life are you tempted to focus on what you don’t have? What steps can you take this week to focus on what God has provided?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Complete and Effective Divinity
If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection… —Romans 6:5
Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have experienced crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a definite likeness to Him. The Spirit of Jesus entering me rearranges my personal life before God. The resurrection of Jesus has given Him the authority to give the life of God to me, and the experiences of my life must now be built on the foundation of His life. I can have the resurrection life of Jesus here and now, and it will exhibit itself through holiness.
The idea all through the apostle Paul’s writings is that after the decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus penetrates every bit of my human nature. It takes the omnipotence of God— His complete and effective divinity— to live the life of the Son of God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house— He invades all of it. And once I decide that my “old man” (that is, my heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me. Once I have made that important decision about sin, it is easy to “reckon” that I am actually “dead indeed to sin,” because I find the life of Jesus in me all the time (Romans 6:11). Just as there is only one kind of humanity, there is only one kind of holiness— the holiness of Jesus. And it is His holiness that has been given to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new spiritual order.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 11, 2019
How to Make a Decision You'll Like a Year From Now - #8414
I have to admit that my wife and I were a little naïve sometimes in the months right after we were married. It was obvious the day this fast-talking vacuum cleaner salesman showed up at our apartment door. He showed us this high-powered machine that did everything but the laundry. He lured us with impressive demonstrations, he offered us an easy payment plan, and a deal (of course) that we had to act on immediately. Well, Mr. Newlywed here eagerly signed on the line. "All right! Hey, I am the proud owner of a high-tech vacuum cleaner! About five times more vacuum cleaner than our apartment could possibly need!" By the next day, I wanted out, but guess what? I couldn't back out then. In my enthusiasm, I had simply left out the most important ingredient in the decision.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Make a Decision You'll Like a Year From Now."
My big mistake in buying Mighty Vac? I really didn't think about the cost over the long haul. It's a step that's been left out of lots of decisions people make - maybe yours.
In our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus is discussing the most life-changing decision of all, which is following Him. And He reveals a key to making that decision and really, to making any important choice. In Luke 14, beginning in verse 28, Jesus says, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish'... In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple."
Jesus says, "When you're considering following Me, count the cost." Actually, that's a prerequisite to any good decision - a realistic look at what it's going to cost you. Whether it's a decision about marriage, moving, leaving school, postponing school, changing jobs, making a purchase, getting serious in a relationship, or taking on a responsibility, or quitting; any major choice. Like me buying that vacuum cleaner, we're quick to see the advantages...what we'll gain by saying yes. But Jesus says, "First, sit down and estimate the cost." Will you be able to finish what you're getting into? Will you feel good a few months in - a few years in?
One of life's greatest causes of depression is the gap between expectations and reality: what I thought this was going to be like and what it's really like. But by doing your homework - looking ahead and projecting the cost - you can help reduce that gap. It's the step we so often leave out.
We tend to decide impulsively, to sell ourselves on what we want to do, to do it without asking a lot of questions, and to run ahead without seeking guidance from God and sometimes quickly brushing off the guidance that doesn't fit the narrative we want. And when the bill comes - there's a lot of pain, there's a lot of regret - most of which could have been avoided by counting the cost.
Before you make your choice, would you make an honest list of what you'll lose in the deal, what could go wrong, what could change, what or who it could affect later, and how it will affect the key people in your life. This doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't do it. It means you walk into your decision knowing the cost and choosing to pay it.
Good decisions are based on a calculator, not good feelings - not a good sales pitch. Take it from a guy who got sucked into more vacuum cleaner than he ever needed. But the bill will come. And in the words of Jesus, "First, sit down and estimate the cost." Make a decision that will still look good months from now, years from now, because two of the sweetest words in the world are these: "no regrets."