Max Lucado Daily: THE UNEXPECTED DOOR TO JOY
Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). The words of Jesus are spot- on. When you give, it has a boomerang effect. Happiness happens when we give it away. That is such great news!
You can’t control your genetics, the weather, the traffic, or the occupant of the White House. But you can always increase the number of smiles on our planet. You! Yes, you can help people to sleep better, laugh more, hum instead of grumble, walk instead of stumble. You can lighten the load and brighten the day of other human beings.
And don’t be surprised when you begin to sense a newfound joy yourself. This is the unexpected door to joy. And standing at the entryway to welcome you is Jesus of Nazareth.
2 Kings 15
In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah became king in Judah. He was sixteen years old when he began his rule and he was king for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah. She was from Jerusalem. He did well in the eyes of God, following in the footsteps of his father Amaziah. But he also failed to get rid of the local sex-and-religion shrines; they continued to be popular with the people. God afflicted the king with a bad skin disease until the day of his death. He lived in the palace but no longer acted as king; his son Jotham ran the government and ruled the country.
6-7 The rest of the life and times of Azariah, everything he accomplished, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Azariah died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Jotham his son was king after him.
8-9 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in Samaria. He lasted only six months. He lived a bad life before God, no different from his ancestors. He continued in the line of Jeroboam son of Nebat who led Israel into a life of sin.
10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him, assassinated him in public view, and took over as king.
11-12 The rest of the life and times of Zechariah is written plainly in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. That completed the word of God that was given to Jehu, namely, “For four generations your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.” Zechariah was the fourth.
13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah. He was king in Samaria for only a month.
14 Menahem son of Gadi came up from Tirzah to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh and killed him. He then became king.
15 The rest of the life and times of Shallum and the account of the conspiracy are written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
16 Using Tirzah as his base, Menahem opened his reign by smashing Tiphsah, devastating both the town and its suburbs because they didn’t welcome him with open arms. He savagely ripped open all the pregnant women.
17-18 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel. He ruled from Samaria for ten years. As far as God was concerned he lived an evil life. Sin for sin, he repeated the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin.
19-20 Then Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria showed up and attacked the country. But Menahem made a deal with him: He bought his support by handing over about thirty-seven tons of silver. He raised the money by making every landowner in Israel pay fifty shekels to the king of Assyria. That satisfied the king of Assyria, and he left the country.
21-22 The rest of the life and times of Menahem, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. Menahem died and joined his ancestors. His son Pekahiah became the next king.
23-24 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria for two years. In God’s eyes he lived an evil life. He stuck to the old sin tracks of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin.
25 And then his military aide Pekah son of Remaliah conspired against him—killed him in cold blood while he was in his private quarters in the royal palace in Samaria. He also killed Argob and Arieh. Fifty Gadites were in on the conspiracy with him. After the murder he became the next king.
26 The rest of the life and times of Pekahiah, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
27-28 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for twenty years. In God’s view he lived an evil life; he didn’t deviate so much as a hair’s breadth from the path laid down by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin.
29 During the reign of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria invaded the country. He captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee—the whole country of Naphtali—and took everyone captive to Assyria.
30 But then Hoshea son of Elah mounted a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. He assassinated him and took over as king. This was in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.
31 The rest of the life and times of Pekah, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
32-35 In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king in Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. He acted well in God’s eyes, following in the steps of his father Uzziah. But he didn’t interfere with the traffic to the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines; they continued, as popular as ever. The construction of the High Gate to The Temple of God was his work.
36-38 The rest of the life and times of Jotham, the record of his work, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. It was during these years that God began sending Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah to attack Judah. Jotham died and joined his ancestors. They buried him in the family cemetery in the City of David. His son Ahaz was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, September 05, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 15:12–19
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Insight
Paul’s preaching and that of others in the New Testament about the resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:12) was rooted in Old Testament Scriptures (vv. 3–4). Their preaching followed the example of Jesus who also referred to these Scriptures to enlighten His perplexed disciples about His resurrection. He said, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. . . . This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day” (Luke 24:44–46). Peter spoke of Christ’s resurrection in Acts 2:23–28 and quoted from Psalm 16:8–11 to show that this was predicted by David. Then Peter quotes Psalm 110:1 to show that David also predicted Christ’s ascension and exaltation (Acts 2:34–36).
The Last Word
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 1 Corinthians 15:19
Her name was Saralyn, and I sort of had a crush on her back in our school days. She had the most wonderful laugh. I’m not sure whether she knew about my crush, but I suspect she did. After graduation I lost track of her. Our lives went in different directions as lives often do.
I keep up with my graduating class in some online forums, and I was intensely sad when I heard that Saralyn died. I found myself wondering about the direction her life had taken over the years. This is happening more and more the older I grow, this experience of losing friends and family. But many of us tend to avoid talking about it.
While we still sorrow, the hope the apostle Paul talks about is that death doesn’t have the final say (1 Corinthians 15:54–55). There is something that follows, another word: resurrection. Paul grounds that hope in the reality of the resurrection of Christ (v. 12), and says “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (v. 14). If our hope as believers is limited to this world only, that’s just a pity (v. 19).
We will one day see those again who have “fallen asleep in Christ” (v. 18)—grandparents and parents, friends and neighbors, or perhaps even old schoolyard crushes.
Death doesn’t get the last word. Resurrection does. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
What does Christ’s resurrection mean to you? How might you express your faith and point someone to the hope of the resurrection?
Jesus, may the power of Your resurrection become more and more evident in my life. May it be clear in my words and actions, especially as I interact with those who do not know You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 05, 2019
Watching With Jesus
Stay here and watch with Me. —Matthew 26:38
“Watch with Me.” Jesus was saying, in effect, “Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me.” In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular “Gethsemane” experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, “No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful.” And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.
The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they “all…forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:4). “They” refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our Lord had said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham. The Highest Good, 548 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 05, 2019
Three Little Words Through the Silence - #8519
This is going to come as a big surprise to you, but I like to talk. It was a blow, then, when this throat doctor told me some years ago I had to stop talking for three weeks! That was a long time ago but my memory is still fresh on this. I had what was known as a growth on one of my vocal cords, and he said it could do serious damage to the other vocal cord. His prescription: total voice rest! Ahhh!!! I argued with him about all the appointments and speaking engagements I had, and he told me the consequences of not stopping. So, I stopped. Now, a lot of my friends got a good laugh out of Ron not being able to talk. In fact, they loved my little Donald Duck magic slate that I carried around. It helped me communicate. But there was one person who didn't laugh, and that was my wife. It was tough on her because she had to be my voice for so many people. Okay, it had been two weeks since I had spoken a word. My wife and I were in bed, we turned off the light, and suddenly she was startled by a sound next to her. It was me, breaking that long silence. Just long enough to say three little words, "I love you." And then back to silence for one more week. But those three little words, that sounded so loud after so much silence, made her happy enough to cry.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Three Little Words Through the Silence."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 11, beginning with verse 1. It says, "A man named Lazarus was sick, he was from Bethany the village of Mary and her sister Martha. The sisters sent word to Jesus, 'Lord the one you love is sick.' Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. Yet, when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where he was two more days." Now they really needed to hear from Jesus, but all there was was this long silence. Does that sound familiar at all?
We know now, of course, that Jesus had something more powerful than a healing in mind. He was going to do a resurrection. Mary and Martha were going to be part of a far greater miracle than they could have ever dreamed. Jesus had to wait in order for that to happen. But in the meantime there is no word from Jesus, and it gets worse before it gets better - before it gets amazing.
Now it could be that you or someone you love is facing a hurting time right now and you have sent word to Jesus through prayer but there has been no response. I can just see Mary going to the window every few minutes and saying, "Where is Jesus? Has anybody seen Jesus?" Maybe you've been asking that, but He's waiting because there are some mightier things He wants to do than just relieve the immediate distress. Meanwhile, you're like my wife during my long silence. You haven't heard His voice for a while, and you need to.
John 11:28 says, "After she had said this she went back and called her sister Mary aside, 'The Teacher is here,'" she said, "and He is asking for you." See, Jesus knows who's hurting because He's waiting. And He asks for the one who's wounded by His silence, and that's Mary. In essence Jesus breaks the silence with three words, "I love you." Not, "Let Me explain it to you." But a personal moment to reassure His friend that He still cares.
Well, maybe that's what this program is all about today. The Lord wants to say to you, "I know you haven't seen an answer yet; I know you're wondering where I am. I'm working on something much bigger than you could imagine. But I know you're hurting now." And then He says, "There's one thing I want you to know," and out of God's long silence He speaks those three incredible words, "I love you." Now He won't explain it. He won't rush it. But at this very moment He wants to break into your pain and tell you how very much He loves you, whether you can feel it or not.
So, don't let the wait, don't let the silence of God cause you to drift into doubt or bitterness. Letting this hurt drive you from God will only increase your hurt and decrease your hope. Let it drive you to God instead. Remember, never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light. And listen, your Savior turns to you today to remind you that even during His long silence, He loves you so very much.
