Max Lucado Daily: THE WORD WAS OUT
From Acts 2 we read: “Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from Heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them where filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (vs. 2-4).
What a moment on the Day of Pentecost. Whatever could this mean? Peter responded to that question with a trio of God-given endorsements of Christ. He talked about when Jesus healed bodies and called life out of Lazarus’ dead body. Then he deemed Christ worthy to serve as a sacrifice for humankind. But, then came the Resurrection— to be the beginning of life and the end of the grave. The word was out that the Word was out!
Psalm 88
A Korah Prayer of Heman
God, you’re my last chance of the day.
I spend the night on my knees before you.
Put me on your salvation agenda;
take notes on the trouble I’m in.
I’ve had my fill of trouble;
I’m camped on the edge of hell.
I’m written off as a lost cause,
one more statistic, a hopeless case.
Abandoned as already dead,
one more body in a stack of corpses,
And not so much as a gravestone—
I’m a black hole in oblivion.
You’ve dropped me into a bottomless pit,
sunk me in a pitch-black abyss.
I’m battered senseless by your rage,
relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger.
You turned my friends against me,
made me horrible to them.
I’m caught in a maze and can’t find my way out,
blinded by tears of pain and frustration.
9-12 I call to you, God; all day I call.
I wring my hands, I plead for help.
Are the dead a live audience for your miracles?
Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you?
Does your love make any difference in a graveyard?
Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell?
Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark,
your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory?
13-18 I’m standing my ground, God, shouting for help,
at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak.
Why, God, do you turn a deaf ear?
Why do you make yourself scarce?
For as long as I remember I’ve been hurting;
I’ve taken the worst you can hand out, and I’ve had it.
Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life;
I’m bleeding, black-and-blue.
You’ve attacked me fiercely from every side,
raining down blows till I’m nearly dead.
You made lover and neighbor alike dump me;
the only friend I have left is Darkness.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Matthew 7:24–27
The Wise and Foolish Builders
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practicei is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Insight
Jesus concluded His Sermon on the Mount with the story of the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24–27) for good reason. He’s telling His hearers that regardless of how they try to live up to the instructions He’s just given them, their efforts are in vain if they build on the wrong foundation. The right foundation is Jesus Himself. This helps us greatly as we consider the entire sermon. Christ had just told the people some remarkable things: “Blessed are those who mourn” (5:4); “Blessed are you when people . . . persecute you” (v. 11); “Love your enemies” (v. 44); “Do not worry” (6:25). Now Jesus cautions the people against thinking they can achieve this by their own efforts. Jesus accomplished what we can’t. He fulfilled both the Law and the Old Testament prophecies about Himself (5:17). Anything we do must be constructed on the bedrock of faith in Him. By: Tim Gustafson
The Leaning Tower
Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24
You’ve probably heard of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, but have you heard of the leaning tower of San Francisco? It’s called the Millennium Tower. Built in 2008, this fifty-eight-story skyscraper stands proudly—but slightly crookedly—in downtown San Francisco.
The problem? Its engineers didn’t dig a deep enough foundation. So now they’re being forced to retrofit the foundation with repairs that may cost more than the entire tower did when it was originally built—a fix that some believe is necessary to keep it from collapsing during an earthquake.
The painful lesson here? Foundations matter. When your foundation isn’t solid, catastrophe could ensue. Jesus taught something similar near the end of His Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:24–27, He contrasts two builders, one who built on a rock, another on sand. When a storm inevitably came, only the house with a solid foundation was left standing.
What does this mean for us? Jesus clearly states that our lives must be built through obedience and trust upon Him (v. 24). When we rest in Him, our lives can find solid ground through God’s power and unending grace.
Christ doesn’t promise us that we’ll never face storms. But He does say that when He’s our rock, those storms and torrents will never wash away our faith-fortified foundation in Him. By: Adam R. Holz
Reflect & Pray
How has your faith helped you to weather the worst storms you’ve faced? What are some practical ways you can strengthen your faith each day?
Father, storms are inevitable in life. Help us to choose to dwell daily in Scripture and strengthen our strong foundation in You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 09, 2020
Prayerful Inner-Searching
May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
“Your whole spirit….” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139. The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”
Do we believe that God can fortify and protect our thought processes far beyond where we can go? “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If this verse means cleansing only on our conscious level, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been dulled by sin will say that he is not even conscious of it. But the cleansing from sin we experience will reach to the heights and depths of our spirit if we will “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are protected by God with the miraculous sacredness of the Holy Spirit that our spirit, soul, and body can be preserved in pure uprightness until the coming of Jesus-no longer condemned in God’s sight.
We should more frequently allow our minds to meditate on these great, massive truths of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 09, 2020
Help With Your Baggage - #8609
On some of my trips I can travel pretty light, but there have been some where I felt like a mule carrying the things I had to take. One trip I had to pack for three different seasons; professional settings, youth settings. Well, you get the idea. I was going to be gone for quite a while, of course, I had to basically take my office with me too. I had a lot of baggage! When I arrived, someone from the area met me at the gate and they said those magic words, "Let me help you with your bags." I did.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Help With Your Baggage."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 11:28. It's a wonderful invitation from the lips of Jesus Christ. It's the first Bible verse I ever remember a Sunday School teacher having me memorize. Here's what Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." That invitation is echoed in another place in the Bible; it's in 1 Peter 5:7. "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
Now, we all have baggage, the emotional kind. In fact, maybe you're carrying a lot of pain right now. Maybe you've got some crippling issues from your past. Or some bad news you got recently or just an overload of stress. It could be you carry baggage from a divorce - it could be your own or maybe your parents' divorce, or some form of abuse or a bad relationship. Some of us are trying to carry the weight of a serious medical condition, a financial crisis, maybe a family issue.
My friend John had some very heavy baggage. One day in a doctor's office, he heard one of those words we dread - cancer - a deadly cancer. After the diagnosis, well, he was supposed to have been gone three or four times. He had ten operations in eight years, but when you would talk to John you just can't believe what he'd gone through. He was like joyful. He was positive. He was interested in how you're doing.
It's just hard to believe he could be carrying such heavy weight, yet seem so light. He was an encouragement to other patients. That's what they told him. So his doctor called him in one day and said "Can you visit some of my other patients? They need what you have." What did he have? He made that clear. He told me about others that he knows who are falling under the weight of cancer.
Then he just made this simple observation. He said, "They're trying to handle it without a Savior." Woah! That's the difference for John - the Savior difference - the Jesus difference. He could be the difference for you. Let's look at the baggage you're carrying. I wonder if John's words describe you, trying to handle it without a Savior.
See you were never meant to carry that pain or that burden alone. Jesus says, "Come to me. I want to carry it." He's a burden bearer. He knows your pain. He understands it because He's been here. He's experienced everything from loneliness, to betrayal, to torture, to dying; and Jesus has dealt with the deadliest baggage of all that we carry; the sin in our lives. Because that will one day keep us out of heaven.
But the Bible says, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree." That tree was His cross. And the day you tell Him that you're trusting Him to be your own Savior from your own sin, that's the last day you will ever carry your burden alone. The strong arms of Jesus are reaching out to you right now, and He says, "Let me help you with your baggage. I can handle it. I already bore the weight of all your sins on my cross. The rest is easy." The promise of Jesus: "I will give you rest." You ready for that?
You begin your relationship with Him when you say, "Jesus, I'm yours." I hope you'll do that today. Our website is there to help you have the information that will help you get this settled today, so you will never do another day face another challenge without a Savior.
If your soul's really tired today, would you let Jesus give you what only He can - rest and peace at last.
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