Max Lucado Daily: WORKS IN PROGRESS
Keep in mind that we are all works in progress. God isn’t finished, and some of his works—well, some of us—need extra attention.
Be the cheerleader who brings out the best, not the critic who points out the rest. You have a tool chest of encouraging words, a phrase of admonition, a warm greeting, genuine forgiveness, patience, kindness and unselfishness. Do whatever it takes to bring out the best in others.
Why? Because God is bringing out the best in you. Little by little, God is making a new you out of you.
Your Father is following you, my friend. And on this journey of life and love when you find it difficult to love the people who are hard to love, just pause and call out God’s name. He’s not about to let you walk this path without his help. And this is how happiness happens.
Psalm 117
Praise God, everybody!
Applaud God, all people!
His love has taken over our lives;
God’s faithful ways are eternal.
Hallelujah!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 1:5; 16:1–11, 33
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
John 16:1-11 New International Version (NIV)
16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
John 16:33 New International Version (NIV)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Insight
Jesus promised that His departure would be a good thing for the disciples because His leaving would initiate the coming of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Advocate (John 16:7). But after the Spirit came, persecution would follow. The religious leaders would kill believers in Jesus, thinking they were doing it as a service to God (v. 2). Jesus knew His disciples would need the comfort and help of the Spirit during those difficult days—things we need today as well.
A Light in the Darkness
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33
In These Are the Generations, Mr. Bae describes God’s faithfulness and the power of the gospel to penetrate the darkness. His grandfather, parents, and his own family were all persecuted for sharing their faith in Christ. But an interesting thing happened when Mr. Bae was imprisoned for telling a friend about God: his faith grew. The same was true for his parents when they were sentenced to a concentration camp—they continued to share Christ’s love even there. Mr. Bae found the promise of John 1:5 to be true: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus warned His disciples about the trouble they’d face. They would be rejected by people who “will do such things because they have not known the Father or me” (16:3). But Jesus offered words of comfort: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (v. 33).
While many believers in Jesus haven’t experienced persecution on the level of that endured by the family of Mr. Bae, we can expect to face trouble. But we don’t have to give in to discouragement or resentment. We have a Helper—the Holy Spirit Jesus promised to send. We can turn to Him for guidance and comfort (v. 7). The power of God’s presence can hold us steady in dark times. By: Linda Washington
Reflect & Pray
What trouble have you experienced as a believer in Christ or witnessed others experiencing? What is your first reaction during hard times?
Heavenly Father, please protect Your children who are experiencing persecution.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Faith
Without faith it is impossible to please Him… —Hebrews 11:6
Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.
For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
The Amazing Reason Why You Are Where You Are - #8558
It's hard to find any "good news" in the bad news of being diagnosed with cancer. But Ellen did, and she told me about it after a recent seminar I had in her area. I'm really excited about how God uses the A Life That Matters book and training to help everyday believers help people they know be in heaven with them. Ellen told me she'd read the book about that when it came out, but she didn't really look for or see many opportunities to tell people the good news about Jesus...until she got cancer.
Suddenly she was in the middle of a lot of people, in her words were "facing their own mortality; people whose future was suddenly uncertain because of that chilling word - cancer. Now, because of what she was going through and what they were going through, her cancer strangely qualified her to share the Christ who died and rose again to get us ready for eternity. Ellen said, "I went back. I re-read your book so I'd know what to do." Well, God has used Ellen in a powerful way. She said, "Ron, I have led so many cancer patients to Jesus - people from many different religions and people with no faith at all!" Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Amazing Reason Why You Are Where You Are."
It turned out there was an eternal reason - a life-saving reason that Ellen had found for being a cancer patient. What she was going through uniquely qualified her to help some people around her be in heaven with her. That's the reason you are where you are. Jesus assigns us to places and to situations to be, as Paul said, "...ambassadors for Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:20). If you have eyes to see, your personal situation right now is loaded with opportunities to bring up the difference that a relationship with Jesus makes.
You may feel like surely there's someone who could do a better job of representing Jesus. You'd better take that up with Him. You're His chosen representative, because He planted you in the place you work, the place you live, the school you go to, the activity you're involved in. And people listen to people who are walking the same trail as they are, who are in the same tribe. Moms listen to moms, truckers listen to truckers, salesmen to salesmen, farmers listen to farmers, engineers to engineers, athletes to athletes, dads listen to dads, and students listen to students. You got it by now, right? You are uniquely qualified to reach people like you. And you may, in fact, be their best chance to find Jesus, or maybe even their only chance.
The prayer of Colossians 4:3-4, our word for today from the Word of God, becomes a very significant prayer for you. I call it The Three-Open Prayer. The verse that follows, Colossians 4:5, says: "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders" (that's people who are outside of Jesus) "make the most of every opportunity." Don't miss chances to be their spiritual rescuer and to bring up Jesus. Now, here's the prayer that paves the way for the rescue: "Pray...that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should." Okay, The Three-Open Prayer, "Lord, open a door." A door is a natural opportunity to bring up your relationship with Christ. Then, "Lord, open their heart." Get them ready to hear about You, Lord. And then, "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the courage, the words and the approach to use to present You clearly. You got it? Open a door, open their heart and open my mouth.
See, there's an eternal reason why you are where you are occupationally, geographically, situationally, parentally, physically, emotionally, maybe even medically. You've been given a stretch of spiritual beach where Jesus has assigned you as His lifeguard, and you can be sure there are spiritually drowning people there within your reach.
There's meaning in the situation you're in...forever meaning, life-saving meaning. You're there to rescue. Don't let them down. Don't let Jesus down.
