Max Lucado Daily: MR. HAPPY MAN
Ninety-two-year-old Johnny Barnes stands on the edge of a roundabout in Hamilton, Bermuda, and he waves at people as they drive past. He’s not asking for money or begging for food. He’s making people happy. “I love you!” he shouts. “I’ll love you forever!”
And they love him! Bermudans call him Mr. Happy Man. They route their morning commute to see him. If Johnny’s not standing in his spot, people call the radio station to check on him.
Johnny’s philosophy is simple. “We human beings gotta learn how to love one another. One of the greatest joys that can come to an individual is when you’re doing something and helping others.”
Wouldn’t you love to meet a person like him? Or better still, wouldn’t you love to be like him?
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Johnny Barnes passed away on July 9, 2016, at the age of 93.
Amos 8
My Master God showed me this vision: A bowl of fresh fruit.
2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?”
I said, “A bowl of fresh, ripe fruit.”
God said, “Right. So, I’m calling it quits with my people Israel. I’m no longer acting as if everything is just fine.”
3 “The royal singers will wail when it happens.”
My Master God said so.
“Corpses will be strewn here, there, and everywhere.
Hush!”
4-6 Listen to this, you who walk all over the weak,
you who treat poor people as less than nothing,
Who say, “When’s my next paycheck coming
so I can go out and live it up?
How long till the weekend
when I can go out and have a good time?”
Who give little and take much,
and never do an honest day’s work.
You exploit the poor, using them—
and then, when they’re used up, you discard them.
7-8 God swears against the arrogance of Jacob:
“I’m keeping track of their every last sin.”
God’s oath will shake earth’s foundations,
dissolve the whole world into tears.
God’s oath will sweep in like a river that rises,
flooding houses and lands,
And then recedes,
leaving behind a sea of mud.
9-10 “On Judgment Day, watch out!”
These are the words of God, my Master.
“I’ll turn off the sun at noon.
In the middle of the day the earth will go black.
I’ll turn your parties into funerals
and make every song you sing a dirge.
Everyone will walk around in rags,
with sunken eyes and bald heads.
Think of the worst that could happen
—your only son, say, murdered.
That’s a hint of Judgment Day
—that and much more.
11-12 “Oh yes, Judgment Day is coming!”
These are the words of my Master God.
“I’ll send a famine through the whole country.
It won’t be food or water that’s lacking, but my Word.
People will drift from one end of the country to the other,
roam to the north, wander to the east.
They’ll go anywhere, listen to anyone,
hoping to hear God’s Word—but they won’t hear it.
13-14 “On Judgment Day,
lovely young girls will faint of Word-thirst,
robust young men will faint of God-thirst,
Along with those who take oaths at the Samaria Sin-and-Sex Center,
saying, ‘As the lord god of Dan is my witness!’
and ‘The lady goddess of Beer-sheba bless you!’
Their lives will fall to pieces.
They’ll never put it together again.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 02, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Genesis 4:1–2
Adam[a] made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.[b] She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth[c] a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
Footnotes:
Genesis 4:1 Or The man
Genesis 4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for brought forth or acquired.
Genesis 4:1 Or have acquired
Insight
In Genesis 4:1–2 we find fulfillment of two events stated earlier in the book. In 1:28 God blessed Adam and Eve and told them to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” The fact that Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel was the first sign that the blessing was still in effect.
The second fulfillment relates to God’s promise of a redeemer in 3:15. God told the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” God spoke this promise before there were children to fulfill it. Adam and Eve’s offspring made the ultimate offspring—Jesus—possible.
A Lasting Legacy
[Eve] said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Genesis 4:1
Thomas Edison invented the first practical electric light bulb. Jonas Salk developed an effective polio vaccine. Amy Carmichael penned many of the hymns we sing in worship. But what about you? Why were you put on earth? How will you invest your life?
Genesis 4 tells us that Eve “became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.” After holding Cain for the first time, Eve announced, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man” (v. 1). In an effort to explain the surprising experience of the very first birth, Eve uses a phrase dripping with dependency on the sovereign aid of God: “With the help of the Lord.” Eventually, through Eve’s seed, God would provide rescue for His people through another Son (John 3:16). What a legacy!
Parenthood is just one of many ways people make lasting contributions to this world. Perhaps your offering will burst forth from a room where you write or knit or paint. You might be an example for another who is deprived of godly influence. Or your investment might even come after your death in ways you could never imagine. It may be the work you leave behind or your reputation for integrity in business. In any case, will your words echo Eve’s dependency on God? With the help of the Lord, what will you do for His honor? By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
How do you want to be remembered after you leave this world? In what ways will you seek God’s help to make that happen?
Dear God, may I lean into You in all I do, because it is only with Your help that I can bring forth a lasting legacy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 02, 2019
A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice
He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow… —John 7:38
Jesus did not say, “He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God,” but, in essence, “He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him.” Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we cannot measure that at all.
When Mary of Bethany “broke the flask…of very costly oil…and poured it on [Jesus’] head,” it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, “…there were some who…said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ ” (Mark 14:3-4). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said, “…wherever this gospel is preached…what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:9). Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did— not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son “that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him?
“He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”— and hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. Now is the time for us to break “the flask” of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 02, 2019
Moving Day Without Notice - #8516
You know the title song of the musical "Oklahoma"? It talks about that being the state "where the wind comes whippin' o'er the plains." Yeah, I guess! How about the tornadoes come whippin' o'er the plains? That's not as poetic, but man, it sure has been true. Especially in recent years. It just seems like Oklahoma gets hammered over and over again with that severe weather. I actually saw an interview with some folks whose homes had been hit by one tornado that moved along the northern edge of Oklahoma City. And, you know, it was amazing to see a lot of people who faced their loss with a determination to rebuild. And actually some even faced it with a sense of humor, believe it or not. I remember one guy who described what had happened pretty creatively. He said, "Well, it was sort of moving day without notice!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Moving Day Without Notice."
You know, we're all going to have one of those, no matter what the weather's like. On God's calendar is the day that we will all breathe our last and we will keep our appointment with Him. As the Bible says, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). No reincarnation. No second chance. No do-over. Death - then judgment. So, for each of us it is going to be "moving day" without notice.
That's why the Bible gives this advice in Proverbs 27:1. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." Well, man, we have plenty of proof of the wisdom of that statement. We all know people who were literally here today and gone tomorrow: one car crossing the center line, one deadly spasm in your heart, one deadly surprise. We live as if tomorrow's a sure thing. It isn't.
And nowhere is it more foolhardy or more potentially fatal to postpone what we need to do than in our relationship with Almighty God, or the fact that we really don't have a personal relationship with God. You may have seen this Bible verse on a highway billboard and laughed it off, but it's way too serious to take lightly. The Bible simply says, "Prepare to meet your God" (Amos 4:12). We prepare for an exam, we prepare for company, a vacation, retirement. We don't prepare for eternity? That's a fatal mistake.
And the Bible makes it clear there's only one way you can prepare to meet your God; to prepare for that day when you will move without notice, either to heaven or to hell. The most urgent issue in our lives is to get all the sins of our life somehow forgiven, because without that, we don't stand a chance with a holy God. And the only One who could forgive your sins is the One who died to pay for your sins in your place, and that is Jesus. The Bible couldn't be more clear. It says, "He that has the Son (that's Jesus) has life; he that does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12). Either you have Jesus because you've consciously given yourself to Him, or you don't have Jesus. In which case, you don't have eternal life.
It just doesn't make sense to risk another day without Him does it? God puts it this way, "Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). If you have never reached out to Jesus, never had a day of salvation like the Bible talks about, have never consciously given yourself to Him, don't wait any longer. Today - this would be the best day to tell Him, "Jesus, I am Yours. You died for me. Then you rose from the dead and you can walk into my life today, and I want you to. I want to belong to you. I give up the running of my own life, and I'm putting all my trust in you." If that's what you want, this will be the day you actually begin your relationship with Him if you'll tell him that. You have every sin forgiven today and you trade hell for heaven.
I'd love to help you at that crossroads moment. And that's what our website is for, so can I suggest the next step for you? Go to ANewStory.com. That's the website. You'll find, there, everything you need to know about securing your own relationship with God.
See, today's all you've got for sure. And there's just too much at stake to wait.
