Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S ANSWER FOR THE MESS OF LIFE
You stare into the darkness. The ceiling fan whirls above you. Your husband slumbers next to you. In minutes the alarm will sound, and the demands of the day will shoot you like a clown out of a cannon into a three-ring circus of meetings, bosses, and baseball practices.
For the millionth time you’ll make breakfast, schedules, and payroll. . .but for the life of you, you can’t make sense of this thing called life. Life with its beginnings and endings. Cradles and cancers and cemeteries and questions. The meaning of life…the poor choices of life!
God answers the mess of life with one word– grace! Do we really understand it? God in the Bible says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you!” (Ezekiel 36:26). That’s grace. Grace calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off!
Read more GRACE
Acts 9:1-22
All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem.
3-4 He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?”
5-6 He said, “Who are you, Master?”
“I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.”
7-9 His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but couldn’t see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing.
10 There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: “Ananias.”
“Yes, Master?” he answered.
11-12 “Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He’s there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again.”
13-14 Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.”
15-16 But the Master said, “Don’t argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job.”
17-19 So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, “Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal.
19-21 Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God. They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn’t he come here to do the same thing—arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?”
22 But their suspicions didn’t slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 02, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Colossians 3:12-17
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Insight
Paul’s letter to the Colossians was one of four letters he wrote while being held as a prisoner in Rome. These four letters, commonly called the “Prison Epistles,” consist of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. The church letters went to three different destinations in two different regions of the ancient world. Philippians was directed to the church at Philippi, a city in Macedonia (ancient northern Greece), while Ephesians and Colossians were written to two cities (Ephesus, Colossae) in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The personal letter to Philemon was also delivered to Colossae, where Philemon is believed to have lived, being actively involved in the church there. These letters were probably intended to be circular letters that were read and passed along to other churches.
How to Find Peace
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Colossians 3:15
“What do you think about peace?” my friend asked as we ate lunch together. “Peace?” I said, puzzled. “I’m not sure—why do you ask?” He answered, “Well, as you jiggled your foot during the church service I wondered if you’re agitated about something. Have you considered the peace God gives to those who love Him?”
That day some years ago, I was a bit hurt by my friend’s question, but it started me on a journey. I began exploring the Bible to see how God’s people embraced this gift of well-being, of peace, even in the midst of hardship. As I read Paul’s letter to the Colossians, I chewed over the apostle’s command to let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts (Colossians 3:15).
Paul was writing to a church he’d never visited but had heard about from his friend Epaphras. He was concerned that as they encountered false teaching, they were losing the peace of Christ. But instead of admonishing them, Paul encouraged them to trust Jesus, who would give them assurance and hope (v. 15).
We all will encounter times when we can choose to embrace or refuse the rule of Christ’s peace in our hearts. As we turn to Him, asking Jesus to dwell in us, He will gently release us from the anxiety and cares that weigh us down. As we seek His peace, we trust that He will meet us with His love. By Amy Boucher Pye
Reflect & Pray
What situations or relationships weigh on your mind and heart? How can you ask Jesus to bring you His peace?
Jesus, You give peace that passes all understanding. Help me embrace Your peace in every area of my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 02, 2019
The Conditions of Discipleship
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also….And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me….So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26-27, 33
If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.
The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst of disturbance. Notes on Isaiah, 1376 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 02, 2019
Spiritual Land Mines - #8472
It was one of the causes Princess Diana was most passionate about. A little-known organization that addresses this issue won the Nobel Peace Prize. It's not an issue we think much about, but it's one that costs countless lives every year - land mines. They are the deadly leftovers of a lot of old battles, and a lot of innocent people are injured or killed by them. A land mine, of course, is not where you can see it coming. It's buried. You're just walking along and suddenly the ground beneath you explodes, maiming or destroying an innocent person.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Land Mines."
Sudden and unexpected destruction - that happens spiritually, too. Spiritual landmines are under the surface as well, but when they go off they do an awful lot of damage. They come in the form of three unholy loves. Whenever a follower of Christ blows up, or a ministry or ministry leader blows up, it's usually because one of these three loves erupted.
1 John 2:15-17, our word for today from the Word of God, exposes the unholy love that destroys what God is trying to build. "Do not love the world or anything in the world." What God is talking about here is really the world's values, the world's system, the world's way of doing things. "If anyone loves the world," it says, "the love of our Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
Let's try to bring that "the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting" right down to where we live. The three unholy loves that are land mines in any life or ministry. Here they are: the love of money, the love of the opposite sex, and the love of power. Think about the spiritual falls you've known about - most, if not all, of them are traceable to one or more of these unholy loves.
Usually, if your sin is because of your love for money, well ultimately you're going to leave a trail and you'll eventually be caught. Usually, if your sin is a sexual sin, it will ultimately be exposed and punished. But maybe the most insidious spiritual land mine of all is the love of power. That one's hard to prove, hard to confront - but a prideful, power-loving spiritual leader can often maim and scar and even destroy people for a lifetime without ever being stopped.
Many of us bring our pre-Christian baggage with us into our Christian life. If we don't repent of it, we usually try to baptize it and make it something spiritual. Consequently, for example, there are many people who were control freaks before they knew Christ and they carry that addiction to control right into their Christian experience and even their leadership. Except now we can dress it up as being a strong leader or having strong convictions. But underneath it's still the life-destroying, unholy love of power and control. It's the cancer that afflicted Diotrephes in 3 John, "Diotrephes," the Bible says, "loves to be first" (3 John 9). Well, 2,000 years have gone by, but there's still plenty of him around.
These three land mines hide beneath the surface for a while, but eventually they go off and they scar families, they split churches, they discredit ministries, and they hurt the name of Christ. So, would you join me in searching your heart to see if there's a mine there? And would you repentantly surrender it to Jesus today, please, before it does any more damage.