Max Lucado Daily: GOD LOVES TO SURPRISE US
The last few days had brought nothing but tragedy. Mary Magdalene was there to hold her arm around the shoulder of Mary the mother of Jesus. She was there to close his eyes. And now she takes her spices to his grave. As she rounds the final bend, she gasps. The rock in front of the grave is pushed back. Someone has taken his body!
Then a man in radiant white asks, “Why are your crying?” An uncommon question in a cemetery. She answers and is asked again,“Why are you crying?” Mary thinks the man is the gardener. He isn’t. He is her Savior. He doesn’t leave her wondering long, just long enough to remind us that he loves to surprise us. God is at his best when our lives are at there worst.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Proverbs 1
Wise Sayings of Solomon
1 1-6 These are the wise sayings of Solomon,
David’s son, Israel’s king—
Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right,
to understand what life means and where it’s going;
A manual for living,
for learning what’s right and just and fair;
To teach the inexperienced the ropes
and give our young people a grasp on reality.
There’s something here also for seasoned men and women,
still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—
Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,
the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.
7 Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God;
only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.
8-19 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you;
never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.
Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair,
like rings on your fingers.
Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you,
don’t go along with them.
If they say—“Let’s go out and raise some hell.
Let’s beat up some old man, mug some old woman.
Let’s pick them clean
and get them ready for their funerals.
We’ll load up on top-quality loot.
We’ll haul it home by the truckload.
Join us for the time of your life!
With us, it’s share and share alike!”—
Oh, friend, don’t give them a second look;
don’t listen to them for a minute.
They’re racing to a very bad end,
hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.
Nobody robs a bank
with everyone watching,
Yet that’s what these people are doing—
they’re doing themselves in.
When you grab all you can get, that’s what happens:
the more you get, the less you are.
20-21 Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts.
At the town center she makes her speech.
In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand.
At the busiest corner she calls out:
22-24 “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance?
Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism?
Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn?
About face! I can revise your life.
Look, I’m ready to pour out my spirit on you;
I’m ready to tell you all I know.
As it is, I’ve called, but you’ve turned a deaf ear;
I’ve reached out to you, but you’ve ignored me.
25-28 “Since you laugh at my counsel
and make a joke of my advice,
How can I take you seriously?
I’ll turn the tables and joke about your troubles!
What if the roof falls in,
and your whole life goes to pieces?
What if catastrophe strikes and there’s nothing
to show for your life but rubble and ashes?
You’ll need me then. You’ll call for me, but don’t expect
an answer.
No matter how hard you look, you won’t find me.
29-33 “Because you hated Knowledge
and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God,
Because you wouldn’t take my advice
and brushed aside all my offers to train you,
Well, you’ve made your bed—now lie in it;
you wanted your own way—now, how do you like it?
Don’t you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots?
Carelessness kills; complacency is murder.
First pay attention to me, and then relax.
Now you can take it easy—you’re in good hands.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 26, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Chronicles 16:7–9
Just after that, Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said, “Because you went for help to the king of Aram and didn’t ask God for help, you’ve lost a victory over the army of the king of Aram. Didn’t the Ethiopians and Libyans come against you with superior forces, completely outclassing you with their chariots and cavalry? But you asked God for help and he gave you the victory. God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him. You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God’s help. Now you’re in trouble—one round of war after another.”
Insight
Because of Solomon’s unfaithfulness (1 Kings 11:4–11), his kingdom was divided into two. Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant, ruled the northern kingdom of Israel (11:28–31), and Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, ruled the southern kingdom of Judah (14:21). Asa, the third king of Judah and Solomon’s great-grandson (2 Chronicles 12:16; 14:1), “did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord” (14:2) and instituted many religious reforms (chs. 14–15). But when war broke out between him and King Baasha of Israel, Asa turned to Syria for help instead of trusting God (16:1–3). God’s prophet Hanani rebuked Asa’s lack of faith, reminding him that God had previously rescued Judah from even more powerful enemies (12:1–12; 14:9–15). Asa refused to repent, and three years later God afflicted him with a severe foot disease. Still “he did not seek help from the Lord” (16:10–12). Asa died an unrepentant man.
What God Sees
The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
Early in the morning, I quietly pad past a family-room window overlooking a wilderness area behind our house. Often, I notice a hawk or owl perched in a tree, keeping watch over the area. One morning I was surprised to find a bald eagle boldly balanced on a high branch, surveying the terrain as if the entire expanse belonged to him. Likely he was watching for “breakfast.” His all-inclusive gaze seemed regal.
In 2 Chronicles 16, Hanani the seer (God’s prophet) informed a king that his actions were under a royal gaze. He told Asa, king of Judah, “You relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God” (v. 7). Then Hanani explained, “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (v. 9). Because of Asa’s misplaced dependence, he would always be at war.
Reading these words, we might get the false sense that God watches our every move so He can pounce on us like a bird of prey. But Hanani’s words focus on the positive. His point is that our God continually watches and waits for us to call on Him when we’re in need.
Like my backyard bald eagle, how might God’s eyes be roaming our world—even now—looking to find faithfulness in you and me? How might He provide the hope and help we need? By Elisa Morgan
Today's Reflection
Why is it vital for you to regularly look to God for direction and guidance? How does it encourage you to know that God awaits your calls for help?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 26, 2019
The Supreme Climb
Take now your son…and offer him…as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. —Genesis 22:2
A person’s character determines how he interprets God’s will (see Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs which must be removed– for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much. That is the devil’s lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, he will do so. But if we will stay true to God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself.
The great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience. Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was actually the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself. But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don’t ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even “to go …both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement— he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 26, 2019
The Transporter to Tomorrow - #8425
"To boldly go where no man has gone before." Maybe you recognize that famous line. Little trivia test here. Well, somewhere along the way, you've been exposed to that cultural phenomenon known as Star Trek. And you know at least a little about the "voyages of the Starship Enterprise." They had this invention on the Enterprise, you remember, it's called a transporter - as in "Scotty, beam me up!" Well, the transporter sort of rearranges your molecules and beams you to another location almost immediately. But sometimes the crew would get beamed down to some unknown planet, only to be greeted by this horrific space creature. That's when it's time for "Scotty, beam me up!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Transporter to Tomorrow."
It's not always a good thing to be transported to another place, especially if there's something there you're not ready to handle. There is a transporter that actually sends your mind and your emotions right into tomorrow, before you're ready to handle tomorrow. What is this dangerous transporter? It's got a name. You know it. It's called worry.
And in our word for today from the Word of God beginning in Matthew 6:25, Jesus gives us our orders about worrying in three simple little words. This will be real easy to understand. He says, "I tell you, do not worry about your life...Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Problem #1 with worry: it's a total waste of time. It accomplishes nothing, except wearing you out, causing panic, and causing paralysis.
Then again Jesus says, "Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' and 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them." Problem #2 with worrying: it is a major insult to God. When you worry about the how's and the what if's and the could's, you are in essence saying, "I don't know if my Heavenly Father can handle this one. I don't know if I can trust Him on this one." After having His new mercies every morning of your life, after His unblemished track record of providing for you and taking care of you, how can you insult Him by worrying that He won't this time?
Now for the third time, Jesus says, "Do not worry about tomorrow...Each day has enough trouble of its own." Problem #3 with worrying: it transports you into tomorrow before you have God's resources to handle the monsters that are there. God does our lives in days: remember, "daily bread," "your strength will equal your day," and "His mercies are new every morning" - daily mercies.
When you worry, you're beaming yourself ahead into a day you're not ready for. The Bible says, "Your strength will equal your day" (Deuteronomy 33:25). Well, if it's Monday, you've got Monday's grace. On Tuesday, you have Tuesday's grace. But if you run ahead and start worrying about Tuesday when it's still Monday, you have the burdens but not the strength.
So maybe it's time for you to confess this particular sin - worrying. Because worry is a sin to a child of God. If you're doing that and worrying, you're directly disobeying the command of Jesus given three times in a row, "Do not worry. Do not worry. Do not worry." Settle back and do what you have God's strength for.
This one day, turn off your transporter to tomorrow. Learn to live by one of Oswald Chambers' favorite sayings. He would say, "I refuse to worry." And if you find yourself worrying about the future, would you ask God to beam you back to where it's safe - in your today.