Max Lucado Daily: A RECOVERING PRAYER WIMP
Yes, I’m a prayer wimp—but a recovering prayer wimp. Not where I long to be, but not where I was. This simple, easy to remember, pocket-size prayer has become a cherished friend.
“Father, You are good.
I need help.
Heal me and forgive me.
They need help.
Thank you.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Jesus’ disciples faced angry waves and a watery grave. You face angry clients, a turbulent economy, and raging seas of stress and sorrow. Let this simple prayer punctuate your day. “Father, you are good.” As you commute to work or walk the hallways at school, “I need help.” As you wait in the grocery line, “They need help.” Keep this prayer in your pocket as you pass through the day! Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and His child!
2 Thessalonians 3 The Message (MSG)
One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you. And pray that we’ll be rescued from these scoundrels who are trying to do us in. I’m finding that not all “believers” are believers. But the Master never lets us down. He’ll stick by you and protect you from evil.
4-5 Because of the Master, we have great confidence in you. We know you’re doing everything we told you and will continue doing it. May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God’s love and Christ’s endurance.
6-9 Our orders—backed up by the Master, Jesus—are to refuse to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the way we taught you. Don’t permit them to freeload on the rest. We showed you how to pull your weight when we were with you, so get on with it. We didn’t sit around on our hands expecting others to take care of us. In fact, we worked our fingers to the bone, up half the night moonlighting so you wouldn’t be burdened with taking care of us. And it wasn’t because we didn’t have a right to your support; we did. We simply wanted to provide an example of diligence, hoping it would prove contagious.
10-13 Don’t you remember the rule we had when we lived with you? “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” And now we’re getting reports that a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings are taking advantage of you. This must not be tolerated. We command them to get to work immediately—no excuses, no arguments—and earn their own keep. Friends, don’t slack off in doing your duty.
14-15 If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don’t let him get by with it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he’ll think twice. But don’t treat him as an enemy. Sit him down and talk about the problem as someone who cares.
16 May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!
17 I, Paul, bid you good-bye in my own handwriting. I do this in all my letters, so examine my signature as proof that the letter is genuine.
18 The incredible grace of our Master, Jesus Christ, be with all of you!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Samuel 18:1–4; 19:1–6
After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
Insight
David and Jonathan shared an amazing friendship. Twice in today’s text we read that Jonathan “loved [David] as himself” (1 Samuel 18:1, 3). Jonathan loved David even though his own father, King Saul, despised him. He looked out for David’s best even when that meant family division and possible detriment to himself. This relationship is seen in the New Testament in the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19).
True Friends
A friend loves at all times. Proverbs 17:17
In high school, I had a “sometimes friend.” We were “buddies” at our church, and we occasionally hung out together outside of school. But at school, it was a different story. If she met me by herself, she might say hello; but only if no one else was around. Realizing this, I rarely tried to gain her attention within school walls. I knew the limits of our friendship.
We’ve probably all experienced the pain of disappointingly one-sided or narrow friendships. But there’s another kind of friendship—one that extends beyond all boundaries. It’s the kind of friendship we have with kindred spirits who are committed to sharing life’s journey with us.
David and Jonathan were such friends. Jonathan was “one in spirit” with David and loved him “as himself” (1 Samuel 18:1–3). Although Jonathan would have been next in line to rule after his father Saul’s death, he was loyal to David, God’s chosen replacement. Jonathan even helped David to evade two of Saul’s plots to kill him (19:1–6; 20:1–42).
Despite all odds, Jonathan and David remained friends—pointing to the truth of Proverbs 17:17: “A friend loves at all times.” Their faithful friendship also gives us a glimpse of the loving relationship God has with us (John 3:16; 15:15). Through friendships like theirs, our understanding of God’s love is deepened. By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
Who do you consider a true friend? Why? How is it comforting to know that God is our truest friend?
Heavenly Father, we long for friends. Please open up doors to true, lasting, and God-centered friendships.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Faith or Experience?
…the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. —Galatians 2:20
We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!
We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.
It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
How to Free the Hostages - #8568
It's one of the ugly words of our time - hostage. I mean, look, we've all seen our share of hostage situations on the news. Right? Some right here in the United States. When someone has taken a hostage or several hostages, the first thing they do is bring in the hostage negotiating team and the police do their very best to use their psychology and their human relations to talk that person, of course, into releasing their hostages.
Sometimes the person will give up and the hostages go free. But too often the negotiations fail, and then it can get a little more violent. Well, in come the highly trained commando units, the SWAT teams, and if necessary they'll shoot the hostage taker, because that's the only way hostages can be saved. But can you imagine just rushing in there to rescue the hostages without first dealing with the one who is holding the hostages? Well, we do that all the time.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Free the Hostages."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in Mark 3, and I'll begin reading at verse 26. Here's what Jesus says: "If Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions until he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house." So, Jesus says here that it's necessary, if we're going to take people back from the strong man, and we know from the context that strong man is Satan, that we first have to tie him up - to bind him to deal with the hostage taker. See, you don't negotiate the Devil out of his hostages. You don't shoot the Devil, but you tie his hands. That's Jesus' strategy.
Now, who are these people that are referred to as "his possessions"? Well, they're some people you know; people in your life whose lives the Devil is pretty much having his way with. They may not know it's the Devil - probably don't. You can tell pretty much that they're away from the Lord. In fact, it might even be someone you love very much.
I know you've prayed for his hostages. You want to have them freed. You talk to them sometimes about Jesus; you worry about them. But so often we miss what Jesus said is the first step - tying up the one who is holding the hostage. You can't neutralize the Devil with a program, or a committee, or words, or a task force, or marches, or demonstrations. He is bound only by the prayers of God's people. And I don't mean, "Now I lay me down to sleep" or "Bless the missionaries" kind of prayers. This is prayer that aims all the majestic resurrection power of Jesus Christ at the enemy who is holding the lives we care about.
The book of Revelation says "they overcame him by the word of their testimony and by the blood of the Lamb." You plead the blood of Jesus, you come against the Devil's grip on those people. And you come under the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. The Devil's death warrant was signed in the blood of Jesus. This isn't a human struggle. It's a clash of supernatural kingdoms.
See, the person you want to rescue from being a hostage of the enemy? You can't just go running in to try to bring them out. You've got to first fight for them on your knees. Deal with the one who is holding the hostage. Turn Jesus loose on them! It says in Mark 3:11, "Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus they fell down before Him and they cried, 'You are the Son of God!'" They didn't fight. They fell down.
When the Devil is confronted with the presence, and the power, and the name of Jesus Christ, he surrenders and the hostages can go free.
