Max Lucado Daily: THE SACRED SUMMIT
Matthew 5:1 says, “When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountainside and sat down.”
America is in a hurry! Time has skyrocketed in value because of its scarcity. He invites you and me, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…” (Matthew 11:28). He invites us to leave behind the budgets, the bills, the deadlines; and walk the narrow trail with him to the sacred summit.
You can tell the ones who have been there. Their challenges are just as severe, but there is stubborn peace that enshrines them…a contagious delight sparkles in their eyes. And in their hearts reigns a fortress-like confidence that the valley can be endured, even enjoyed, because the mountain is always only a decision away.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 8
Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling?
Can you hear Madame Insight raising her voice?
She’s taken her stand at First and Main,
at the busiest intersection.
Right in the city square
where the traffic is thickest, she shouts,
“You—I’m talking to all of you,
everyone out here on the streets!
Listen, you idiots—learn good sense!
You blockheads—shape up!
Don’t miss a word of this—I’m telling you how to live well,
I’m telling you how to live at your best.
My mouth chews and savors and relishes truth—
I can’t stand the taste of evil!
You’ll only hear true and right words from my mouth;
not one syllable will be twisted or skewed.
You’ll recognize this as true—you with open minds;
truth-ready minds will see it at once.
Prefer my life-disciplines over chasing after money,
and God-knowledge over a lucrative career.
For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth;
nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.
12-21 “I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity;
Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street.
The Fear-of-God means hating Evil,
whose ways I hate with a passion—
pride and arrogance and crooked talk.
Good counsel and common sense are my characteristics;
I am both Insight and the Virtue to live it out.
With my help, leaders rule,
and lawmakers legislate fairly;
With my help, governors govern,
along with all in legitimate authority.
I love those who love me;
those who look for me find me.
Wealth and Glory accompany me—
also substantial Honor and a Good Name.
My benefits are worth more than a big salary, even a very big salary;
the returns on me exceed any imaginable bonus.
You can find me on Righteous Road—that’s where I walk—
at the intersection of Justice Avenue,
Handing out life to those who love me,
filling their arms with life—armloads of life!
22-31 “God sovereignly made me—the first, the basic—
before he did anything else.
I was brought into being a long time ago,
well before Earth got its start.
I arrived on the scene before Ocean,
yes, even before Springs and Rivers and Lakes.
Before Mountains were sculpted and Hills took shape,
I was already there, newborn;
Long before God stretched out Earth’s Horizons,
and tended to the minute details of Soil and Weather,
And set Sky firmly in place,
I was there.
When he mapped and gave borders to wild Ocean,
built the vast vault of Heaven,
and installed the fountains that fed Ocean,
When he drew a boundary for Sea,
posted a sign that said no trespassing,
And then staked out Earth’s Foundations,
I was right there with him, making sure everything fit.
Day after day I was there, with my joyful applause,
always enjoying his company,
Delighted with the world of things and creatures,
happily celebrating the human family.
32-36 “So, my dear friends, listen carefully;
those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.
Mark a life of discipline and live wisely;
don’t squander your precious life.
Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me,
awake and ready for me each morning,
alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.
When you find me, you find life, real life,
to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.
But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul;
when you reject me, you’re flirting with death.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 06, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Isaiah 55:1–6
“Hey there! All who are thirsty,
come to the water!
Are you penniless?
Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”
6-7 Seek God while he’s here to be found,
pray to him while he’s close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.
Insight
Isaiah 55 builds on the previous two chapters. Chapter 53 prophetically spoke of the Messiah’s future suffering and pointed to the offspring that will result because of it. Through this suffering the Messiah would “[bear] the sin of many” (v. 12)—in other words, bring us to salvation. In chapter 54 we see how this Messiah will one day completely restore the nation of Israel. Now, in chapter 55, the prophet shows us that God offers this salvation to all of us: “Come, all you who are thirsty” (v. 1). The invitation is to receive what we desperately need yet cannot earn. And in contrast to the bread that “does not satisfy” (v. 2), Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). Through Christ the Living Water (4:1–15), we quench our profound spiritual thirst. But we can’t buy this satisfaction with money, nor can we earn it with effort.
Come and Get It!
Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. Isaiah 55:3
I peeked over the grape-stake fence that encloses our backyard. There I saw folks running, jogging, walking, and shuffling around the track that surrounds the park behind our home. I used to do that when I was stronger, I thought. And a wave of dissatisfaction washed over me.
Later, while reading the Scriptures, I came across Isaiah 55:1, “Come, all you who are thirsty,” and I realized again that dissatisfaction (thirst) is the rule, not the exception in this life. Nothing, not even the good things of life, can fully satisfy. If I had strong legs like a Sherpa (mountain-climbing guide), there would still be something else in my life that I’d be unhappy about.
Our culture is always telling us in one way or another that something we do, buy, wear, spray on, roll on, or ride in will give us endless pleasure. But that’s a lie. We can’t get complete satisfaction from anything in the here and now, no matter what we do.
Rather, Isaiah invites us to come again and again to God and the Scriptures to hear what He has to say. And what does He say? His love for David of old is “everlasting” and “faithful” (v. 3). And that goes for you and me as well! We can “come” to Him. By David H. Roper
Today's Reflection
In what ways are you thirsty? How can knowing God is faithful help you today?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 06, 2019
Liberty and the Standards of Jesus
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free… —Galatians 5:1
A spiritually-minded person will never come to you with the demand— “Believe this and that”; a spiritually-minded person will demand that you align your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One whom the Bible reveals (see John 5:39-40). We are called to present liberty for the conscience of others, not to bring them liberty for their thoughts and opinions. And if we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty— the liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.
Always measure your life solely by the standards of Jesus. Submit yourself to His yoke, and His alone; and always be careful never to place a yoke on others that is not of Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us to stop thinking that unless everyone sees things exactly as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only one true liberty— the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.
Don’t get impatient with others. Remember how God dealt with you— with patience and with gentleness. But never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, “Go…and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19), not, “Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God. Biblical Ethics, 125 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 06, 2019
The Setting Without the Stones - #8431
My wife wasn't ever really very big on jewelry, but she took special joy in pieces that were family heirlooms, like an engagement ring that originally belonged to my grandmother. Over the years, the three small diamonds that had been in that ring had been removed. So, all that was left was a gold band with three empty settings. Well, my wife managed to get a great deal on some stones that she could have set in that ring. It wasn't particularly beautiful before. It's really beautiful now.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Setting Without the Stones."
The setting by itself wasn't really very attractive. But it was those gems that made all the difference. In today's world where a woman's desire to be "beautiful," it just drives so much of the marketing that is directed to women, it's easy for a woman to believe some very big lies about herself. The models in the magazines and the stars on the screen are supposed to define beauty. Well, they don't, at least not according to the Creator. And He should know. Much of what we think is beauty is really a setting without the stones.
God's idea of beautiful, the final word on the subject, is part of our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Peter 3, beginning in verse 2. That's where God calls women to be known and noticed for "the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
What God says is worth little is worth little. What God says is worth a lot is worth a lot. And He's saying that the outward stuff - your face, your figure, your clothes, your makeup, your hair - those are not what beauty is all about, no matter how many times our culture bombards us with the message that it is. Your outward appearance is at best the setting, but it's not the gems that make the setting come to life. Those are on the inside.
God says the real jewels are things like being a woman who's pure, who's gentle, who makes people feel safe, who conveys a calm spirit, who's poised and peaceful under pressure. Those things just never wrinkle, they never fade. Many a woman who spends hours on how she looks is missing this inner glow that makes a woman radiant. Just think about the women who have made a difference in your life, who have been beautiful for you. It probably had everything to do with what they were, and almost nothing to do with how they looked.
Do you know where a woman finds her true worth? She finds it when she meets Jesus Christ. When all but one of Jesus' disciples had abandoned Him, do you know who was still at His cross? The women, women whose lives had been changed by Jesus. If you've never been to that cross where Jesus died for every wrong thing you've ever done, I want to invite you to join the millions of women and men over the centuries who have found in Jesus Christ the love they have looked for their whole life. He is the one person with whom you are totally safe, whom you can totally trust, who knows all about you and takes you just as you are and loves you just as you are but doesn't leave you there. It makes you into a woman you otherwise never could be except for His beauty inside you.
If you've never opened your heart to the One who loves you the most, would you do it today? Just tell Him "Jesus, beginning this day I am yours. I open up this life to you to make it what you want it to be. I know you love me. You died for my sins on the cross and beginning today, I'm Yours."
If that's where you're at, our website is there just for a moment like this. This crossroads moment of beginning your personal love relationship with the Son of God. It's called ANewStory.com. I urge you to get there as soon as you can today.
Every woman who has ever come to Jesus has found in him a love that no one else has ever been able to give her.