Max Lucado Daily: DON’T CRY
Jesus and his disciples stop as the funeral procession passes by. The widow at the back of the procession is burying her only son. Tonight she will make dinner for one and conversation with none.
When Jesus sees the mother, his heart begins to break, and he tells her, “Don’t cry.” The pallbearers stop marching, and Jesus turns his attention to the dead boy and calmly says, “Young man, come back to life again.” Gray-pale cheeks blush. The dead man sits up.
Luke’s description of what happens next is captivating. “Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Jesus must have smiled as the two embraced. Stunned, the crowd breaks into cheers and applause. And someone proclaims the undeniable, “God has come to help his people” (Luke 7:15-16).
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Psalm 145
David’s Praise
145 I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King!
and I’ll bless your name into eternity.
2 I’ll bless you every day,
and keep it up from now to eternity.
3 God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough.
There are no boundaries to his greatness.
4 Generation after generation stands in awe of your work;
each one tells stories of your mighty acts.
5 Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking;
I compose songs on your wonders.
6 Your marvelous doings are headline news;
I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.
7 The fame of your goodness spreads across the country;
your righteousness is on everyone’s lips.
8 God is all mercy and grace—
not quick to anger, is rich in love.
9 God is good to one and all;
everything he does is suffused with grace.
10-11 Creation and creatures applaud you, God;
your holy people bless you.
They talk about the glories of your rule,
they exclaim over your splendor,
12 Letting the world know of your power for good,
the lavish splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal;
you never get voted out of office.
God always does what he says,
and is gracious in everything he does.
14 God gives a hand to those down on their luck,
gives a fresh start to those ready to quit.
15 All eyes are on you, expectant;
you give them their meals on time.
16 Generous to a fault,
you lavish your favor on all creatures.
17 Everything God does is right—
the trademark on all his works is love.
18 God’s there, listening for all who pray,
for all who pray and mean it.
19 He does what’s best for those who fear him—
hears them call out, and saves them.
20 God sticks by all who love him,
but it’s all over for those who don’t.
21 My mouth is filled with God’s praise.
Let everything living bless him,
bless his holy name from now to eternity!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 19, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Hebrews 10:10–23
The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Since that old “law plan” wasn’t complete in itself, it couldn’t complete those who followed it. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can’t get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ:
You don’t want sacrifices and offerings year after year;
you’ve prepared a body for me for a sacrifice.
It’s not fragrance and smoke from the altar
that whet your appetite.
So I said, “I’m here to do it your way, O God,
the way it’s described in your Book.”
When he said, “You don’t want sacrifices and offerings,” he was referring to practices according to the old plan. When he added, “I’m here to do it your way,” he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan—God’s way—by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.
11-18 Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:
This new plan I’m making with Israel
isn’t going to be written on paper,
isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;
This time “I’m writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts.”
He concludes,
I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.
19-21 So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.
22-25 So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Insight
Jesus’s ministry as priest in Hebrews is prominent, first referenced in Hebrews 1:3: “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Chapter 13 also includes this theme: “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering . . . . And so Jesus also suffered . . . to make the people holy through his own blood” (vv. 11–12).
The Torn Veil
We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body. Hebrews 10:19–20
It was a dark and somber day in the outskirts of Jerusalem. On a hill just outside the city walls, a Man who’d been attracting crowds of eager followers for the past three years hung in disgrace and pain on a rough wooden cross. Mourners wept and wailed in sorrow. The light of the sun no longer brightened the afternoon sky. And the intense suffering of the Man on the cross ended when He cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished” (Matthew 27:50; John 19:30).
At that very moment, another sound came from the great temple across town—the sound of ripping fabric. Miraculously, without human intervention, the huge, thick veil that separated the outer temple from the holy of holies tore in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51).
That torn curtain symbolized the reality of the cross: a new way was now open to God! Jesus, the Man on the cross, had shed His blood as the last sacrifice—the one true and sufficient sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10)—which allows all who believe in Him to enjoy forgiveness and enter into a relationship with God (Romans 5:6–11).
Amidst the darkness of that original Good Friday, we received the best news ever—Jesus opened a way for us to be saved from our sins and to experience fellowship with God forever (Hebrews 10:19–22). Thank God for the message of the torn veil! By Dave Branon
Today's Reflection
How has the reality of what happened on Good Friday brought you from darkness to light? What does it mean for you to experience a relationship with God?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 19, 2019
Beware of the Least Likely Temptation
Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. —1 Kings 2:28
Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.
We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.
“…kept by the power of God…”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 19, 2019
The Battle for Your Life - #8420
A listener shared a story with me that's just too powerful not to share with you. A man named George Thomas was a pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning, he got up to speak and he set a rusty, bent-up old bird cage next to the pulpit. You could tell by people's faces that the pastor had some explaining to do. He said, "Well, I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me, swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little birds who were shivering with cold and fear. So I asked the boy, "What you got there?" He said, "Just some old birds." The pastor then asked, "What are you going to do with them?" The boy said, "Well, I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. Then I'm gonna have a real good time." The pastor pointed out that the boy would soon get tired of those birds and he said, "What are you going to do with them then?" "Oh, I've got some cats," the boy said. "They like birds." What happened next is what puts you and me into this picture.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Battle for Your Life."
The pastor had a question for the boy who had nothing but hurtful plans for those little birds. "How much do you want for them, son?" The boy couldn't believe it. These were just plain old field birds who weren't very pretty and they couldn't sing. When the pastor pressed his question, the boy finally answered, "Uh, ten dollars?" The pastor reached into his pocket and pulled out a $10 bill, and the boy took his money and ran off.
The pastor picked up the cage, he gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. He opened the cage door, softly tapped the bars to persuade the birds to come out, and you know what happened. He set them free.
Now the folks at church understood at this point why there was an empty cage on the pulpit. Then the pastor began to tell a story of a conversation between Jesus and Satan, who had just come from his victory with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The devil was boasting, "Yes, sir, I just caught me a world full of people down there. I set me a trap and they fell for the bait. Got 'em all!" Jesus asked him, "What are you going to do with them?" "I'm gonna have some fun with them," Satan replied. "I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hurt and hate each other, and how to get hooked on habits that will destroy them. I'm going to teach them to deceive each other, abuse each other, and even kill each other."
When Jesus asked what he would do when he was done with them, Satan said, "Oh, I'll kill them." "How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked. The devil said, "You don't want them. They'll just spit on you. They'll just curse you. They'll kill you!" Jesus asked again, "How much?" Satan sneered, "All your tears and all your blood!" "Done!" Jesus said, and then He paid the price. Now our word for today from the Word of God in John 10:10, "The thief (that's Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
This very day the life-taker, the devil himself, is trying to hold onto you. He wants to keep you away from Jesus until your last heartbeat, and then you'll be his forever. But the Life-Giver, Jesus Christ, is fighting for your soul this very moment where you are. He paid the price for your sin on the cross. And now you are in the middle of a tug-of-war on which your eternity depends - Satan trying to keep you on his path to kill you, and Jesus inviting you to give yourself to Him so He can give you life. They won't decide whether you go to heaven or hell though - you will.
You want to belong to this Jesus? I mean, nobody has ever loved you like He does. No one has the power to walk out of his grave and give eternal life but Him. Go to our website, please. Many people have gone there and found there the assurance that they belong to Jesus Christ from that day on. It's ANewStory.com.
For 2,000 years, Jesus has been unlocking that cage door of sin and letting its captives go free. He's waiting to do that for you this very day, this Good Friday.