Max Lucado Daily: TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER
The question is not, Did you get hurt? The question is, Are you going to let the hurt harden you? Wouldn’t you prefer to be “tenderhearted, forgiving one another”?
Try these steps.
Decide what you need to forgive. Be specific. Narrow it down to the identifiable offense.
Ask yourself why it hurts. Why does this offense sting? What about it leaves you wounded?
Take it to Jesus. Talk to Jesus about the offense until the anger subsides. And when it returns, talk to Jesus again.
Tell your offender. If it feels safe, simply explain the offense and the way it makes you feel.
Pray for your offender. You cannot force reconciliation, but you can offer intercession.
Conduct a funeral. Bury the offense in the cemetery known as “Moving On with Life.”
This is how happiness happens.
1 Thessalonians 2
So, friends, it’s obvious that our visit to you was no waste of time. We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn’t slow us down. We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting God’s Message to you, defiant of the opposition.
3-5 God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message. Be assured that when we speak to you we’re not after crowd approval—only God approval. Since we’ve been put through that battery of tests, you’re guaranteed that both we and the Message are free of error, mixed motives, or hidden agendas. We never used words to butter you up. No one knows that better than you. And God knows we never used words as a smoke screen to take advantage of you.
6-8 Even though we had some standing as Christ’s apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else. We weren’t aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.
9-12 You remember us in those days, friends, working our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so you wouldn’t have the burden of supporting us while we proclaimed God’s Message to you. You saw with your own eyes how discreet and courteous we were among you, with keen sensitivity to you as fellow believers. And God knows we weren’t freeloaders! You experienced it all firsthand. With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life.
13 And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!
14-16 Friends, do you realize that you followed in the exact footsteps of the churches of God in Judea, those who were the first to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ? You got the same bad treatment from your countrymen as they did from theirs, the Jews who killed the Master Jesus (to say nothing of the prophets) and followed it up by running us out of town. They make themselves offensive to God and everyone else by trying to keep us from telling people who’ve never heard of our God how to be saved. They’ve made a career of opposing God, and have gotten mighty good at it. But God is fed up, ready to put an end to it.
17-20 Do you have any idea how very homesick we became for you, dear friends? Even though it hadn’t been that long and it was only our bodies that were separated from you, not our hearts, we tried our very best to get back to see you. You can’t imagine how much we missed you! I, Paul, tried over and over to get back, but Satan stymied us each time. Who do you think we’re going to be proud of when our Master Jesus appears if it’s not you? You’re our pride and joy!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Revelation 1:9–18
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,[a] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Footnotes:
Revelation 1:13 See Daniel 7:13.
Insight
Seeing Jesus in a vision, John “fell at his feet as though dead” (Revelation 1:17). This is similar to his response some sixty years earlier when he saw the exalted Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration: he “fell facedown to the ground, terrified” (Matthew 17:6). Such reverence is the appropriate response toward “the Alpha and the Omega . . . the First and the Last” (Revelation 1:8, 17). In revealing Himself as “the First and the Last,” Jesus is saying He’s God. For God Himself has declared, “I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6).
Just a Touch
Then he placed his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.” Revelation 1:17
It was just a touch, but it made all the difference to Colin. As his small team was preparing to do charitable work in a region known for hostility to believers in Jesus, his stress level began to rise. When he shared his worries with a teammate, his friend stopped, placed his hand on his shoulder, and shared a few encouraging words with him. Colin now looks back on that brief touch as a turning point, a powerful reminder of the simple truth that God was with him.
John, the close friend and disciple of Jesus, had been banished to the desolate island of Patmos for preaching the gospel, when he heard “a loud voice like a trumpet” (Revelation 1:10). That startling event was followed by a vision of the Lord Himself, and John “fell at his feet as though dead.” But in that frightening moment, he received comfort and courage. John wrote, “He placed his right hand on me and said, ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last’” (v. 17).
God takes us out of our comfort zone to show us new things, to stretch us, to help us grow. But He also brings the courage and comfort to go through every situation. He won’t leave us alone in our trials. He has everything under control. He has us in His hands. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
How is God taking you out of your comfort zone? What friends has He given you for support and comfort?
Jesus, help me recognize Your presence and Your touch in the midst of things that frighten me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 24, 2019
The Proper Perspective
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ… —2 Corinthians 2:14
The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.
The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37).
“We are to God the fragrance of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 24, 2019
How to Keep Going When Your Tank is Empty - #8554
My friend, Mike, had just started up his pickup truck when the trouble started. He was taking the truck out for a test drive for some people who had just bought it. And as he backed it out of the new owner's garage, it suddenly started sputtering and stalling. He couldn't keep it running no matter what he tried. He got to a phone and called the old owner and said, "What's the deal with this truck you just sold?" Well, the man who sold it is an honorable man, and he was really distressed about this suddenly dysfunctional truck. Then suddenly he asked Mike, "Did you happen to mess with the radio at all?" Yes, he had. The previous owner told Mike to go check these two switches that are right next to the radio. See, this truck has a wonderful feature, especially for the country roads that it travels so much. It has a reserve gas tank. Now, Mike had unknowingly turned off Tank 2, which was full of gas, and turned on Tank 1, which was totally empty. But the good news is that as soon as he switched from the empty tank to the reserve tank, Mr. Pickup Truck ran and ran and ran.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Keep Going When Your Tank is Empty."
I'm assuming that your life runs pretty fast, pretty hard like mine. And there are times when your tank is basically empty. You're totally exhausted, you've got nothing left to give, depleted, your demands and responsibilities are just greater than the strength you have to meet them. Boy, I know that feeling. And sometimes you just run out of ideas, you're out of solutions, you're out of motivation, you're out of energy. Now why am I assuming that you know about an empty tank like this? Because I'm assuming you're not that different from me.
But there's good news when your tank has nothing left. Our word for today from the Word of God, Isaiah 40:28 - "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary and His understanding no one can fathom." So, now the God you belong to, the God who lives in you, well He's inexhaustible. He is what the theologians call infinite. His resources and wisdom just never, never run out, but yours do. Mine do.
Here's where the reserve tank kicks in. The passage continues, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall." By the way, any words here, that sound like you? "Weary, weak, tired, stumble, fall?" Here's what God promises to the totally overwhelmed and depleted person. "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).
When Mike's Tank 1 on that truck was empty, the fuel in Tank 2 was all the difference. I can't tell you how many times I have reached empty in my tank, and God's never-empty tank has kicked in and it has made all the difference. After an exhausting week, I wake up and I say, "God, I'm so tired." He says, "I'm not." I say, "I'm empty, Lord." He says, "I know, but switch on My power, Ron. I'm not empty." It's as I sang about as a little boy and I didn't really understand it until life got more complicated, "Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong."
If you dwell on how stressed you are, or how tired, or how sick or overwhelmed, you're done. You're dwelling on your empty tank. But if, on those depleted days, you consciously focus on your Lord's inexhaustible strength, your Lord's unlimited power, you will be able to keep driving when you thought you couldn't go another mile.
The songwriter of one of my favorite songs said it pretty well. "When we have exhausted our store of endurance; when our strength has failed ere the day is half done. When we've reached the end of our hoarded resources, our Father's full giving has only begun."
