Max Lucado Daily: BUT GOD IS GOOD
There’s a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. Your future matters more than your past! God’s grace is greater than your sin. You thought the problem was your calendar, your marriage, your job. In reality, it’s this unresolved guilt! Don’t indulge it. Don’t drown in the bilge of your own condemnation. What you did was not good. But your God is good. And He will forgive you.
He is ready to write a new chapter in your life. Say with Paul, “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us” (Philippians 3:13-14). Your salvation has nothing to do with your work and everything to do with the finished work of Christ on the cross. Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy!
Isaiah 15
A Message concerning Moab:
Village Ar of Moab is in ruins,
destroyed in a night raid.
Village Kir of Moab is in ruins,
destroyed in a night raid.
Village Dibon climbs to its chapel in the hills,
goes up to lament.
Moab weeps and wails
over Nebo and Medba.
Every head is shaved bald,
every beard shaved clean.
They pour into the streets wearing black,
go up on the roofs, take to the town square,
Everyone in tears,
everyone in grief.
Towns Heshbon and Elealeh cry long and loud.
The sound carries as far as Jahaz.
Moab sobs, shaking in grief.
The soul of Moab trembles.
5-9 Oh, how I grieve for Moab!
Refugees stream to Zoar
and then on to Eglath-shelishiyah.
Up the slopes of Luhith they weep;
on the road to Horonaim they cry their loss.
The springs of Nimrim are dried up—
grass brown, buds stunted, nothing grows.
They leave, carrying all their possessions
on their backs, everything they own,
Making their way as best they can
across Willow Creek to safety.
Poignant cries reverberate
all through Moab,
Gut-wrenching sobs as far as Eglaim,
heart-racking sobs all the way to Beer-elim.
The banks of the Dibon crest with blood,
but God has worse in store for Dibon:
A lion—a lion to finish off the fugitives,
to clean up whoever’s left in the land.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Mark 10:26–31
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”d
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”e
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as muchf in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to comeg eternal life.h 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Insight
A wealthy young man approached Jesus trusting that his good works had earned him a place in heaven (Mark 10:17–20). Correcting him, Jesus told him to give up his material wealth and to follow Him in order to receive “treasure in heaven” (v. 21). This got the disciples thinking. They’d left their families and professions to follow Christ (Matthew 4:18–22; 9:9). Peter said to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you!” (Mark 10:28). Jesus affirmed that they’d certainly be rewarded for their sacrifices and they’ll have the very thing the rich young ruler desired—“eternal life” (vv. 17, 30). But He also warned them of the danger of pride (v. 31). They weren’t to think of themselves as “greatest” in the kingdom (9:33–34) because of their sacrifices and achievements and for following Him longer than anyone else.
Surrendering All
Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” Mark 10:28
Two men remembered for serving others for Jesus left careers in the arts to commit themselves to where they believed God had called them. James O. Fraser (1886–1938) decided not to pursue being a concert pianist in England to serve the Lisu people in China, while the American Judson Van DeVenter (1855–1939) chose to become an evangelist instead of pursuing a career in art. He later wrote the hymn “I Surrender All.”
While having a vocation in the arts is the perfect calling for many, these men believed God called them to relinquish one career for another. Perhaps they found inspiration from Jesus counseling the rich, young ruler to give up his possessions to follow Him (Mark 10:17–25). Witnessing the exchange, Peter exclaimed, “We have left everything to follow you!” (v. 28). Jesus assured him that God would give those who follow Him “a hundred times as much in this present age” and eternal life (v. 30). But He would give according to His wisdom: “Many who are first will be last, and the last first” (v. 31).
No matter where God has placed us, we’re called to daily surrender our lives to Christ, obeying His gentle call to follow Him and serve Him with our talents and resources—whether in the home, office, community, or far from home. Watch Annahita Parsan’s devotional video, “Jesus, the Revolutionary.” She surrendered to God’s call to share the gospel in Sweden. As we submit to His call, He’ll also inspire us to love others. By: Amy Boucher Pye
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 09, 2020
Have You Seen Jesus?
After that, He appeared in another form to two of them… —Mark 16:12
Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many people who have never seen Jesus have received and share in God’s grace. But once you have seen Him, you can never be the same. Other things will not have the appeal they did before.
You should always recognize the difference between what you see Jesus to be and what He has done for you. If you see only what He has done for you, your God is not big enough. But if you have had a vision, seeing Jesus as He really is, experiences can come and go, yet you will endure “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). The man who was blind from birth did not know who Jesus was until Christ appeared and revealed Himself to him (see John 9). Jesus appears to those for whom He has done something, but we cannot order or predict when He will come. He may appear suddenly, at any turn. Then you can exclaim, “Now I see Him!” (see John 9:25).
Jesus must appear to you and to your friend individually; no one can see Jesus with your eyes. And division takes place when one has seen Him and the other has not. You cannot bring your friend to the point of seeing; God must do it. Have you seen Jesus? If so, you will want others to see Him too. “And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:13). When you see Him, you must tell, even if they don’t believe.
O could I tell, you surely would believe it!
O could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can you receive it,
How, till He bringeth you where I have been?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 13-14; Luke 10:1-24
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 09, 2020
Battlefield Blindness - #8674
"Embedded reporters." It was a concept I had never heard of until Operation Iraqi Freedom years ago. But the U.S. Military decided to allow reporters to actually travel with and report from active combat units, fighting for the liberation of Iraq back then. The result was these amazing live transmissions from sandstorms, rapid troop movements, actual combat in progress, and even the takeover of some of Saddam Hussein's palaces. It was the ultimate in reality TV. Of course, it had one disadvantage; one that briefers and Pentagon officials kept reminding people of. The embedded reporter could only report on the small slice of the big picture that he was able to see from his unit's vantage point. A seasoned military observer expressed it this way on television: "The closer you are to the battle, the less you can see the whole war."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Battlefield Blindness."
That tendency to see only the battle right in front of you is not unique to military campaigns. It's a regular occurrence in our everyday lives. Maybe you're in the middle of some battles of your own right now, in your marriage, the life of your child, in your church, or maybe with your health or your finances or an important relationship. And just like those in the military situation who become totally focused on the fraction they can see, the closer you are to the battle, the less you can see the whole war. Which can lead to some hurtful mistakes: overconfidence, discouragement, overreaction, panic, even retreat or surrender.
Moses was facing one of those moments of battlefield blindness in our word for today from the Word of God. In Exodus 17, beginning with verse 3, we discover God's remedy for this nearsightedness that battles can cause. As Moses was leading God's people through the wilderness, they faced a crisis of having no water. And they were verbally and emotionally beating up on their leader pretty badly and even getting so ugly they were on the brink of stoning him.
The Bible says, "They grumbled against Moses. They said, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt to makes us and our children...die of thirst?'" Talk about battlefield blindness. "Then Moses cried out to the Lord, 'What am I to do with these people?'" Ever felt that way yourself? Haven't we all? "What am I going to do with these people?" Well, listen to the Lord's wise advice to Moses and to you and me. "The Lord answered Moses, 'Walk on ahead of the people.'" As Moses did that, God revealed to him that by striking a certain rock, water would come out for the people. And that is exactly what happened.
Notice the principle here: as long as you're totally focused on the current battle, you probably won't be able to see God's big picture. You have to "walk on ahead of the people." Take some time away. Get some distance. Breathe! Be in a place where the only voice you're listening to is God's voice. You've been so focused on your child's problems, your mate's problems, the contentious issues, the difficult people, the physical struggles. You're not able to see the big picture of what God's trying to do and what part He wants you to play in it.
Battlefield nearsightedness can also blind us to how far we've come. We're obsessed with how far we still have to go, and it can blind us to how far someone else has come, too. We can only see how far they have to go. And battlefield blindness gives us spiritual amnesia. It makes us forget what an awesome God we have and the mighty things He's done for us in all those past battles. So many of yesterday's mountains are today's monuments to the power of God, to the faithfulness of God.
So take a step back. Walk on ahead of the battle for a little while and God will show you some answers that you would never see in the middle of the battle.
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