Max Lucado Daily: GOD USES PEOPLE TO CHANGE THE WORLD
I’ve waited too long to believe. Way too long. What can I possibly do now for God?
God uses people to change the world! People! Not saints or super humans or geniuses, but people. Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars— He uses them all. No wagging fingers. No crossed arms. Only sweet, open arms! If you’ve ever wondered how God can use you to make a difference in the world, just look at those he’s already used and take heart. Look at the forgiveness found in those open arms and take courage.
By the way, never were those arms opened so wide as they were on the Roman cross. One arm extending back into history, the other reaching into the future. An embrace of forgiveness for anyone who’ll come. A hen gathering her chicks…a father receiving his own…a Redeemer redeeming the world!
1 Chronicles 3
These are the sons that David had while he lived at Hebron:
His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel;
second, Daniel by Abigail of Carmel;
third, Absalom born of Maacah, daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;
fourth, Adonijah born of Haggith;
fifth, Shephatiah born of Abital;
sixth, Ithream born of his wife Eglah.
4-9 He had these six sons while he was in Hebron; he was king there for seven years and six months.
He went on to be king in Jerusalem for another thirty-three years. These are the sons he had in Jerusalem: first Shammua, then Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel was the mother of these four. And then there were another nine sons: Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, Eliphelet—David’s sons, plus Tamar their sister. There were other sons by his concubines.
10-14 In the next generation Solomon had Rehoboam, who had Abijah, who had Asa, who had Jehoshaphat, who had Jehoram, who had Ahaziah, who had Joash, who had Amaziah, who had Azariah, who had Jotham, who had Ahaz, who had Hezekiah, who had Manasseh, who had Amon, who had Josiah.
15 Josiah’s firstborn was Johanan, followed by Jehoiakim, then Zedekiah, and finally Shallum.
16 Jehoiakim’s sons were Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) and Zedekiah.
17-18 The sons of Jeconiah born while he was captive in Babylon: Shealtiel, Malkiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.
19-20 Pedaiah had Zerubbabel and Shimei; Zerubbabel had Meshullam and Hananiah. Shelomith was their sister. And then five more—Hashubah, Ohel, Berekiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-Hesed.
21 Hananiah’s sons were Pelatiah and Jeshaiah. There were also sons of Rephaiah, sons of Arnan, sons of Obadiah, and sons of Shecaniah.
22 Shecaniah had Shemaiah who in his turn had Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat—six of them.
23 Neariah had three sons: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam.
24 And Elioenai had seven sons: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 06, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 1:18–25
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came aboutd: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.p 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yete did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorceq her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angelr of the Lord appeared to him in a dreams and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,f t because he will save his people from their sins.”u
22 All this took place to fulfillv what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”g w (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angelx of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.y
Insight
Today’s text introduces us to Joseph, a carpenter in Nazareth and step-father of Jesus. Joseph is only mentioned briefly in Scripture but he’s never the speaker; however, his life speaks volumes of his devotion to God. He’s concerned for the law and desires to act in obedience (Matthew 1:19), yet he pairs that concern with genuine compassion for Mary. His focus on obedience is likewise balanced by trust that the message he’s received from the angel is from God—giving him strength to obey (vv. 22–25).
For more on Joseph, see Mary and Joseph: Reflecting on the Wonder of Christmas at discoveryseries.org/hp074. By: Bill Crowder
Gifts from Above
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel. Matthew 1:23
According to an old story, a man named Nicholas (born in ad 270) heard about a father who was so poor that he couldn’t feed his three daughters, much less provide for their future marriages. Wanting to assist the father, but hoping to keep his help a secret, Nicholas threw a bag of gold through an open window, which landed in a sock or shoe drying on the hearth. That man was known as St. Nicholas, who later became the inspiration for Santa Claus.
When I heard that story of a gift coming down from above, I thought of God the Father, who out of love and compassion sent to earth the greatest gift, His Son, through a miraculous birth. According to Matthew’s gospel, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy that a virgin would conceive and give birth to a son whom they would call Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (1:23).
As lovely as Nicholas’s gift was, how much more amazing is the gift of Jesus. He left heaven to become a man, died and rose again, and is God living with us. He brings us comfort when we’re hurting and sad; He encourages us when we feel downhearted; He reveals the truth to us when we might be deceived. By: Amy Boucher Pye
Reflect & Pray
How can you give the gift of Jesus today? How does His presence lead you to share your resources of time, wisdom, and love with others?
Jesus, thank You for the way You left Your Father to be born in humble circumstances. May I never take for granted Your presence in my life.
To learn more about the birth of Jesus, visit bit.ly/2R7FD4f.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 06, 2019
“My Rainbow in the Cloud”
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. —Genesis 9:13
It is the will of God that human beings should get into a right-standing relationship with Him, and His covenants are designed for this purpose. Why doesn’t God save me? He has accomplished and provided for my salvation, but I have not yet entered into a relationship with Him. Why doesn’t God do everything we ask? He has done it. The point is— will I step into that covenant relationship? All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.
Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God— a very rare thing. We only have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, “Now I believe.” There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, “Look to Me, and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22).
When I have really transacted business with God on the basis of His covenant, letting everything else go, there is no sense of personal achievement— no human ingredient in it at all. Instead, there is a complete overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and my life is transformed and radiates peace and joy.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 06, 2019
Cross-Eyed - #8585
OK, it's time for a simple experiment - which is the only kind I'm capable of. Don't try this if you're driving please. But if you're where you can do this safely, pick up some object that's close by: your pen, your comb, a cup - whatever. Hold it about a foot from your eyes. Now, move that object slowly toward your eyes - you're not driving, right? OK. But keep staring right straight at the object. Now bring it all the way up to your face. If you keep staring at the object, I'll bet something strange has happened to your eyes. You are suddenly cross-eyed and everything looks weird!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Cross-Eyed."
What in the world was the point of that dumb exercise? Well, there actually was a point; one that may explain some of the stress, the anxiety and the conflict you're feeling right now. When you look at something too closely for too long, your perspective gets very distorted. In a sense, you get cross-eyed!
Our word for today from the Word of God shows us how this distorted perspective can affect your choices and cause us to make some pretty costly mistakes. In Numbers 13, beginning with verse 30, our word for today from the Word of God, the 12 Jewish scouts have just returned from checking out the land that God has promised to His people. Two of them, Caleb and Joshua, are saying "Go for it!" The other ten are saying, "Run for it!"
Here's what it says: "Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 'We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.' But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are.' They said, 'The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size...We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.'"
Well, as a result of this perspective, God's people turned away from the beautiful land God had promised. He said He'd give it into their hands, and they spent 40 years in the wilderness instead. Why? Those ten scouts had stared at those big walls around Jericho and those big Canaanites, and pretty soon that's all they could see. Caleb was looking beyond those walls, beyond those giants and seeing the great and mighty God they had. But those who never saw the Promised Land were the ones who got spiritually cross-eyed from staring at the size of their problem instead of focusing on the size of their God, which might be a mistake you've been making right now.
When you focus on your obstacles, when you focus on what you're afraid of, what you're worried about, your vision starts to get blurry. When you focus on yourself and what your resources can accomplish, you start to feel like, well small "like grasshoppers" they said. You start seeing your whole life through the lens of this problem, and pretty soon everything looks distorted. And you start making decisions that are now based on a totally distorted view of reality.
When you've been looking too long and too closely at a situation, you need to do things that will help you back off and get the big picture again. Get some sleep, spend some time praising God for all He is and all He's done, get away for some extended time with the Lord, spend some time with a child in your life. They can help you restore your perspective. And get the views of some people who are totally outside your situation.
Remember, when you look at one thing too long and you look at it too closely, your vision gets distorted! So don't hold it so close, and spend some time looking at something else!