Max Lucado Daily: HAVE YOU LET GOD LOVE YOU?
“Love one another as I have loved you” James 13:34. The Greek word used for love (agape) denotes an unselfish affection. The final phrase is the essential one: “as I have loved you.” Have you let God love you? Please don’t hurry past the question.
We don’t love people because people are lovable. People can be cranky, stubborn, selfish, and cruel. We love people for this reason: we have come to experience and believe the love that God has for us. We are beneficiaries of an unexpected, undeserved, yet undeniable gift— the love of God.
It is only by receiving our Father’s agape love that we can discover an agape love for others. Be loved, and then love. Just as hurt people hurt people, loved people love people. So let God love you!
This is how happiness happens.
1 Thessalonians 3
So when we couldn’t stand being separated from you any longer and could find no way to visit you ourselves, we stayed in Athens and sent Timothy to get you up and about, cheering you on so you wouldn’t be discouraged by these hard times. He’s a brother and companion in the faith, God’s man in spreading the Message, preaching Christ.
3-5 Not that the troubles should come as any surprise to you. You’ve always known that we’re in for this kind of thing. It’s part of our calling. When we were with you, we made it quite clear that there was trouble ahead. And now that it’s happened, you know what it’s like. That’s why I couldn’t quit worrying; I had to know for myself how you were doing in the faith. I didn’t want the Tempter getting to you and tearing down everything we had built up together.
6-8 But now that Timothy is back, bringing this terrific report on your faith and love, we feel a lot better. It’s especially gratifying to know that you continue to think well of us, and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you! In the middle of our trouble and hard times here, just knowing how you’re doing keeps us going. Knowing that your faith is alive keeps us alive.
9-10 What would be an adequate thanksgiving to offer God for all the joy we experience before him because of you? We do what we can, praying away, night and day, asking for the bonus of seeing your faces again and doing what we can to help when your faith falters.
11-13 May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 28, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Judges 6:1, 11–16
The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
Judges 6:11-16 New International Version (NIV)
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Insight
When the Israelites cried out to God for help after years of ignoring Him (Judges 6:6), He sent a prophet who told them exactly what was wrong (vv. 7–10). Then God began to work, but Gideon had no idea what was happening. The story simply says, “The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah” (v. 11). Gideon asked the angel, “Where are all [God’s] wonders that our ancestors told us about?” (v. 13). Only when fire consumed Gideon’s offering (v. 21) did he sense God’s presence (v. 22). Despite this miraculous display, Gideon needed even more assurance from Him (vv. 36–40) before leading his tiny band against the enemy (ch. 7). By: Tim Gustafson
Walk Like a Warrior
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Judges 6:12
Eighteen-year-old Emma faithfully talks about Jesus on social media, even though bullies have criticized her joy and enthusiastic love for Christ. Some have attacked her with remarks about her physical appearance. Others have suggested a lack of intelligence because of her devotion to God. Though the unkind words cut deep into Emma’s heart, she continues to spread the gospel with bold faith and love for Jesus and others. Sometimes, though, she’s tempted to believe her identity and worth are determined by the criticism of others. When that happens, she asks God for help, prays for her persecutors, meditates on the words of Scripture, and perseveres with Spirit-empowered courage and confidence.
Gideon faced fierce tormentors—the Midianites (Judges 6:1–10). Though God called him a “mighty warrior,” Gideon struggled to let go of his doubt, self-imposed limitations, and insecurities (vv. 11–15). On more than one occasion, he questioned the Lord’s presence and his own qualifications, but eventually surrendered in faith.
When we trust God, we can live like we believe what He says about us is true. Even when persecution tempts us to doubt our identity, our loving Father confirms His presence and fights on our behalf. He affirms we can walk like mighty warriors armed with His absolute love, guarded by His endless grace, and secured in His reliable truth. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
Which verses help you remain steadfast when you’re tempted to doubt your identity and worth? What can you do to combat verbal attacks?
God, please help us recall Your love and respond in grace every time someone tempts us to doubt our value or question our unique roles.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 28, 2019
Justification by Faith
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. —Romans 5:10
I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read. Remember that “the need to receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else. Approved Unto God, 11 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 28, 2019
The Light That Weathers All Your Storms - #8556
Some of our most memorable vacation moments as a family have been spent on the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina. It hasn't always been beautiful for ships that were navigating those treacherous shoals that are off the shores of the Outer Banks. In fact, it's estimated that over 2,000 ships have gone down there over those centuries. But a lot more lives could have been lost there if it hadn't been for the Cape Hatteras Light, one of the most famous lighthouses in America. Its octagonal tower rises massively above the beach and the sand hills, and it's been the guiding light that kept many ships from going aground. It's stood there for nearly two centuries. Imagine the storms that she's weathered, including more than a hundred hurricanes! Storms that blew away so many other structures, but the lighthouse still stands.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Light That Weathers All Your Storms."
So many lights that people have depended on just couldn't survive the storms. The marriage that was supposed to give love for a lifetime, the job we thought would always be there, the person that was supposed to be an anchor, the retirement plans that you thought was so secure. But they're gone. Our health that we always just took for granted, even our religion that just wasn't enough to sustain us through the storm.
But there's something in us that yearns for - that really needs - one certain light that will always be there, no matter how stormy it gets, no matter how dark it gets. We need something that's unshakably secure that helps guide us through the toughest times. In fact, we're created with a need for that - a need that was actually designed to be met by the One who put us here in the first place. Actually, we are made for Him, and our Creator is the only light that never goes out and never goes away.
John 8:12 - it's our word for today from the Word of God. Here's what it says. We've got Jesus taking us straight to the light that weathers every storm. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
For 2,000 years, through every changing culture and circumstance, Jesus has been the light that has dispelled the darkness for millions of lives, the one love that no storm has ever touched, the one security that lasts a lifetime, actually lasts for eternity. In fact, Jesus is the light for the darkest journey you will ever take - the last one. He's the light that will guide you all the way to heaven.
But for Jesus to be our light, He had to go through the darkest darkness any human being has ever endured - that cross. That awful death on a cross where Jesus took on Himself every wrong thing every one of us has ever done, including every sin of your life and mine. It was literally our hell that Jesus was taking there so we could go to heaven. Because the deepest darkness of all is the darkness inside us, the sin that only the Man who died for you can forgive. That only the man who conquered death with His resurrection can overcome.
I know a relationship with Jesus can weather every storm. He's loved and sustained us through losing a baby, financial crises, through all the struggles of parenting, through major medical battles, and even at the casket of a woman I have loved for a lifetime.
Jesus has never abandoned, never let down anyone who's put their life in His hands. He's the one certain light that your heart needs. He died so you could have a relationship with Him. But you have to choose Him for yourself by telling Him, "Jesus, I don't belong at the steering wheel of my life any more. You do, and I'm putting all my trust in You to remove the wall between me and God. I want to belong to you from this day on."
That's exactly, by the way, why our website ANewStory.com is there, to help you get this done. That website is ANewStory.com.
For all your storms, for all your dark times, even for your final journey, there's a light that will always be there, and His name is Jesus.
