Max Lucado Daily: A SILENCED BOAST
A Hanoverian countess was known for her disbelief in God and her conviction that no one could call life from a tomb. Before her death, she ensured that her tomb would be a mockery to belief in the resurrection. It was sealed with a slab of granite. Blocks of stone were placed around her tomb. Heavy iron clamps fastened the blocks together and to the granite slab. The inscription read:
This burial place,
purchased to all eternity,
must never be opened.
However, a small birch tree had other plans. Over the years it forced its way until the iron clamps popped loose, and the granite lid was raised. Now the stone cover rests again the trunk of the birch. Its boastful epitaph has been permanently silenced by the work of a determined tree…or a powerful God.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
1 Kings 3
Solomon arranged a marriage contract with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the City of David until he had completed building his royal palace and God’s Temple and the wall around Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the people were worshiping at local shrines because at that time no temple had yet been built to the Name of God. Solomon loved God and continued to live in the God-honoring ways of David his father, except that he also worshiped at the local shrines, offering sacrifices and burning incense.
4-5 The king went to Gibeon, the most prestigious of the local shrines, to worship. He sacrificed a thousand Whole-Burnt-Offerings on that altar. That night, there in Gibeon, God appeared to Solomon in a dream: God said, “What can I give you? Ask.”
6 Solomon said, “You were extravagantly generous in love with David my father, and he lived faithfully in your presence, his relationships were just and his heart right. And you have persisted in this great and generous love by giving him—and this very day!—a son to sit on his throne.
7-8 “And now here I am: God, my God, you have made me, your servant, ruler of the kingdom in place of David my father. I’m too young for this, a mere child! I don’t know the ropes, hardly know the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of this job. And here I am, set down in the middle of the people you’ve chosen, a great people—far too many to ever count.
9 “Here’s what I want: Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil. For who on their own is capable of leading your glorious people?”
10-14 God, the Master, was delighted with Solomon’s response. And God said to him, “Because you have asked for this and haven’t grasped after a long life, or riches, or the doom of your enemies, but you have asked for the ability to lead and govern well, I’ll give you what you’ve asked for—I’m giving you a wise and mature heart. There’s never been one like you before; and there’ll be no one after. As a bonus, I’m giving you both the wealth and glory you didn’t ask for—there’s not a king anywhere who will come up to your mark. And if you stay on course, keeping your eye on the life-map and the God-signs as your father David did, I’ll also give you a long life.”
15 Solomon woke up—what a dream! He returned to Jerusalem, took his place before the Chest of the Covenant of God, and worshiped by sacrificing Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings. Then he laid out a banquet for everyone in his service.
16-21 The very next thing, two prostitutes showed up before the king. The one woman said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. While we were living together, I had a baby. Three days after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone—there wasn’t anyone else in the house except for the two of us. The infant son of this woman died one night when she rolled over on him in her sleep. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son—I was sound asleep, mind you!—and put him at her breast and put her dead son at my breast. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, here was this dead baby! But when I looked at him in the morning light, I saw immediately that he wasn’t my baby.”
22 “Not so!” said the other woman. “The living one’s mine; the dead one’s yours.”
The first woman countered, “No! Your son’s the dead one; mine’s the living one.”
They went back and forth this way in front of the king.
23 The king said, “What are we to do? This woman says, ‘The living son is mine and the dead one is yours,’ and this woman says, ‘No, the dead one’s yours and the living one’s mine.’”
24 After a moment the king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought the sword to the king.
25 Then he said, “Cut the living baby in two—give half to one and half to the other.”
26 The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son and said, “Oh no, master! Give her the whole baby alive; don’t kill him!”
But the other one said, “If I can’t have him, you can’t have him—cut away!”
27 The king gave his decision: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Nobody is going to kill this baby. She is the real mother.”
28 The word got around—everyone in Israel heard of the king’s judgment. They were all in awe of the king, realizing that it was God’s wisdom that enabled him to judge truly.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Luke 14:15–23
That triggered a response from one of the guests: “How fortunate the one who gets to eat dinner in God’s kingdom!”
16-17 Jesus followed up. “Yes. For there was once a man who threw a great dinner party and invited many. When it was time for dinner, he sent out his servant to the invited guests, saying, ‘Come on in; the food’s on the table.’
18 “Then they all began to beg off, one after another making excuses. The first said, ‘I bought a piece of property and need to look it over. Send my regrets.’
19 “Another said, ‘I just bought five teams of oxen, and I really need to check them out. Send my regrets.’
20 “And yet another said, ‘I just got married and need to get home to my wife.’
21 “The servant went back and told the master what had happened. He was outraged and told the servant, ‘Quickly, get out into the city streets and alleys. Collect all who look like they need a square meal, all the misfits and homeless and wretched you can lay your hands on, and bring them here.’
22 “The servant reported back, ‘Master, I did what you commanded—and there’s still room.’
23-24 “The master said, ‘Then go to the country roads. Whoever you find, drag them in. I want my house full! Let me tell you, not one of those originally invited is going to get so much as a bite at my dinner party.’”
Insight
The Bible uses the banquet or feast metaphor to symbolize God’s offer of salvation to the world. Isaiah proclaimed that “the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples” (25:6). Luke uses the metaphor of a man who invited guests to “a great banquet” (14:16–17). Matthew likens it to the week-long celebratory “wedding banquet” for the king’s son (22:2). John speaks of a “wedding supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9), where believers from every nation will gather to celebrate God’s final salvation. They will come “from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Matthew 8:11). “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15).
Serving the Smallest
God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things. 1 Corinthians 1:28
The video showed a man kneeling beside a busy freeway during an out-of-control brush fire. He was clapping his hands and pleading with something to come. What was it? A dog? Moments later a bunny hopped into the picture. The man scooped up the scared rabbit and sprinted to safety.
How did the rescue of such a small thing make national news? That’s why. There’s something endearing about compassion shown to the least of these. It takes a big heart to make room for the smallest creature.
Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a man who gave a banquet and made room for everyone who was willing to come. Not just the movers and shakers but also “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Luke 14:21). I’m thankful that God targets the weak and the seemingly insignificant, because otherwise I’d have no shot. Paul said, “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things . . . so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).
How big must God’s heart be to save a small person like me! In response, how large has my heart grown to be? I can easily tell, not by how I please the “important people,” but by how I serve the ones society might deem the least important. By Mike Wittmer
Today's Reflection
What types of people do you have a hard time valuing? In what ways might God want you to change that?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
The Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success
Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you… —Luke 10:20
Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:13). In Luke 10:20, Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercialized view— we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. Yet our work only begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God. One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God’s testimony to us as His workers. God brings us up to a standard of life through His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that same standard in others.
Unless the worker lives a life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. But Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an “if,” never with the forceful or dogmatic statement— “You must.” Discipleship carries with it an option.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
The Angel in the Flames - #8423
It started out like just another day driving a school bus for Ponderosa Elementary. But that night, Kevin McKay would be hailed as "the bus driver from heaven." In between, came the most deadly wildfire in California's history.
On the morning of November 8, McKay had just dropped off his students when he saw the smoke. Ten minutes later, the evacuation order. Ultimately - and quickly - you know, the entire community would be consumed by flames. Most parents made it to the school to quickly pick up their child. But as the fire was, in McKay's words, "coming down in a thousand places," there were 22 children still left at the school.
Since he had just unloaded, he had an empty bus. Within minutes, he had them aboard that bus with the help of two teachers, Abbie Davis and Mary Ludwig. That's when they began what became their five-hour journey through what Ludwig said "felt like Armageddon." The smoke and gridlock was so heavy they only traveled an eighth of a mile in the first hour.
They continued to navigate the wall of cars ahead, and McKay could see the fire was creeping ever closer to the road. One fourth-grader said, "There were fires left and right, everywhere you looked." Abbie Davis confessed that she thought they were going to die at several points along the journey. But they didn't, because of one man's courage and determination to save lives from those relentless flames.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Angel in the Flames."
I was really moved as I read his story. Yes, because of Kevin McKay's selfless heroism. But also because of that Scripture that kept playing back in my heart in the midst of that conflagration. "Save others by snatching them from the fire." That's in Jude 23. Jesus left heaven on that rescue mission - to save us "from the fire." The fire of God's judgment for defying our Creator to, in essence, be our own "God." Running our own life. The "fire" I deserve that fell on Jesus on the cross as He, in the words of the Bible, "gave Himself for our sins to rescue us" (Galatians 1:4).
But I know people who don't even know the fire is coming. Let alone, that Jesus loved them enough to take the fire for them. Most of us know folks like that. Someone needs to "snatch them from the fire." Someone needs to do what a courageous bus driver did as Paradise went up in flames. Use whatever vehicle we have to save lives!
Like our influence, for example. In someone's life. Our connection, our relationship with someone who, each day, is one day closer to a judgment Jesus died to save them from. We know them, and we know Jesus. They don't know Jesus. Could our responsibility be any clearer? Is it any wonder God says in Ezekiel 3:18, "if you do not...speak out...I will hold you accountable for their blood"?
When God called Moses to join Him in rescuing his people, He asked Moses a probing question, and it's our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 4:2. "What is that in your hand?" It was only a shepherd's rod, but God told him to "throw it down" so He could transform it into something that would set people free. And that piece of wood, super-naturalized by God, helped liberate a nation.
When God asks me and each of His people, "What is that in your hand?" You got a home? A job? A computer? A Facebook page? A Bible study? Do you have a membership at the gym? A school or service club you're in? You have money in the bank? You have some respect at work or in the community? You have musical ability? A gift for writing or art? Do you have a relationship with a coworker, a neighbor, someone with a common interest?
God has heard the cries of the lost hearts around you and me and He's coming to rescue them. But He's asking you to use whatever has been trusted to you to save the ones you know; whatever's in your hand. There's one vehicle we all have. Our most powerful vehicle - our story. Your life, your background, your battles, your pain, your failures, and how Jesus has healed, changed and redeemed what no one else ever could. Your story, interwoven with His Story, could change their story forever!
The heroism of a man who saved lives with the vehicle he had makes me do some soul-searching. What do I have that God wants me to surrender so He can use it to change someone's eternity?
I can't imagine that bus driver simply driving off in that bus to save only himself. Not when there were people he could save from an unthinkable fate. I don't want to arrive in heaven with an "empty bus."
