Max Lucado Daily: COMMON FOLK
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NIV).
Does Jesus still use simple folks like us to change the world? You know, we suffer from such ordinariness. But God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called.
Don’t let Satan convince you otherwise. He will tell you that God has an IQ requirement or an entry fee. When Satan whispers such lies, dismiss him with this truth: God stampeded the first-century society with swaybacks, not thoroughbreds. There is no evidence that Jesus chose the disciples because they were smarter or nicer than the guy next door. The one thing they had going for them was a willingness to take a step when Jesus said, “Follow me.” God changes the world with folks like you.
Psalm 50
An Asaph Psalm
50 1-3 The God of gods—it’s God!—speaks out, shouts, “Earth!”
welcomes the sun in the east,
farewells the disappearing sun in the west.
From the dazzle of Zion,
God blazes into view.
Our God makes his entrance,
he’s not shy in his coming.
Starbursts of fireworks precede him.
4-5 He summons heaven and earth as a jury,
he’s taking his people to court:
“Round up my saints who swore
on the Bible their loyalty to me.”
6 The whole cosmos attests to the fairness of this court,
that here God is judge.
7-15 “Are you listening, dear people? I’m getting ready to speak;
Israel, I’m about ready to bring you to trial.
This is God, your God,
speaking to you.
I don’t find fault with your acts of worship,
the frequent burnt sacrifices you offer.
But why should I want your blue-ribbon bull,
or more and more goats from your herds?
Every creature in the forest is mine,
the wild animals on all the mountains.
I know every mountain bird by name;
the scampering field mice are my friends.
If I get hungry, do you think I’d tell you?
All creation and its bounty are mine.
Do you think I feast on venison?
or drink draughts of goats’ blood?
Spread for me a banquet of praise,
serve High God a feast of kept promises,
And call for help when you’re in trouble—
I’ll help you, and you’ll honor me.”
16-21 Next, God calls up the wicked:
“What are you up to, quoting my laws,
talking like we are good friends?
You never answer the door when I call;
you treat my words like garbage.
If you find a thief, you make him your buddy;
adulterers are your friends of choice.
Your mouth drools filth;
lying is a serious art form with you.
You stab your own brother in the back,
rip off your little sister.
I kept a quiet patience while you did these things;
you thought I went along with your game.
I’m calling you on the carpet, now,
laying your wickedness out in plain sight.
22-23 “Time’s up for playing fast and
loose with me.
I’m ready to pass sentence,
and there’s no help in sight!
It’s the praising life that honors me.
As soon as you set your foot on the Way,
I’ll show you my salvation.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 03, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Isaiah 30:8–18
Go now, write it on a tablete for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,f
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.g
9 For these are rebellioush people, deceitfuli children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.j
10 They say to the seers,k
“See no more visionsl!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,m
prophesy illusions.n
11 Leave this way,o
get off this path,
and stop confrontingp us
with the Holy Oneq of Israel!”
12 Therefore this is what the Holy Oner of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,s
relied on oppressiont
and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
like a high wall,u cracked and bulging,
that collapsesv suddenly,w in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,x
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15 This is what the Sovereigny Lord, the Holy Onez of Israel, says:
“In repentance and resta is your salvation,
in quietness and trustb is your strength,
but you would have none of it.c
16 You said, ‘No, we will fleed on horses.’e
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of fivef
you will all fleeg away,
till you are lefth
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banneri on a hill.”
18 Yet the Lord longsj to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.k
For the Lord is a God of justice.l
Blessed are all who wait for him!m
Insight
In Isaiah 30:18, the words translated longs (“the Lord longs”) and wait (“all who wait for him”) are the same word in the original language. In one verse we see both the waiting of God and the waiting of man. Isaiah 8:17 also uses this word: “I will wait for the Lord.” Whether the subject of the waiting is God or humans, we’re the ones who benefit, and God is to be praised. By: Arthur Jackson
God Waited
The Lord longs to be gracious to you. Isaiah 30:18
When Denise Levertov was just twelve, long before she became a renowned poet, she had the gumption to mail a package of poetry to the great poet T. S. Eliot. She then waited for a reply. Surprisingly, Eliot sent two pages of handwritten encouragement. In the preface to her collection The Stream and the Sapphire, she explained how the poems “trace [her] own movement from agnosticism to Christian faith.” It’s powerful, then, to recognize how one of the later poems (“Annunciation”) narrates Mary’s surrender to God. Noting the Holy Spirit’s refusal to overwhelm Mary and His desire for Mary to freely receive the Christ child, these two words blaze at the poem’s center: “God waited.”
In Mary’s story, Levertov recognized her own. God waited, eager to love her. He would not force anything upon her. He waited. Isaiah described this same reality, how God stood ready, eager with anticipation, to shower Israel with tender love. “The Lord longs to be gracious to you . . . to show you compassion” (30:18). He was ready to flood His people with kindness, and yet God waited for them to willingly receive what He offered (v. 19).
It’s a wonder that our Creator, the Savior of the world, chooses to wait for us to welcome Him. The God who could so easily overpower us practices humble patience. The Holy One waits for us. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
In what areas of your life has God been waiting for you? How might you surrender to Him?
God, it boggles my mind that You wait for me. Wait? For me? This makes me trust You, desire You. Please come. Give me Your full self.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 03, 2020
Clouds and Darkness
Clouds and darkness surround Him… —Psalm 97:2
A person who has not been born again by the Spirit of God will tell you that the teachings of Jesus are simple. But when he is baptized by the Holy Spirit, he finds that “clouds and darkness surround Him….” When we come into close contact with the teachings of Jesus Christ we have our first realization of this. The only possible way to have full understanding of the teachings of Jesus is through the light of the Spirit of God shining inside us. If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet— getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God— it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence. The people who are flippant and disrespectful in their approach to God are those who have never been introduced to Jesus Christ. Only after the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable “darkness” of realizing who He is.
Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Once, the Bible was just so many words to us — “clouds and darkness”— then, suddenly, the words become spirit and life because Jesus re-speaks them to us when our circumstances make the words new. That is the way God speaks to us; not by visions and dreams, but by words. When a man gets to God, it is by the most simple way— words.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 03, 2020
The High Cost of Running - #8605
My son and I were waiting in front of a restaurant and we saw this dad desperately trying to keep his impatient two-year-old occupied. Good luck! What's that word we sometimes use to describe the "two-year-olds"? "Terrible twos"? Yeah, well, there's something in a little child that wants freedom, and will go for it at the first opportunity. This kid was no exception. As soon as his dad let go for a moment, he started chugging down the sidewalk. Dad started after him, of course, pretending he was having a hard time catching the little guy. Well, you knew he wasn't. My son just watched in amusement and he said to me, "It's so funny watching a kid trying to get away from his father. You know he's going to lose."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The High Cost of Running."
In our word for today from the Word of God, we're in Jonah 1. Speaking of running, it's about a child of God trying to run away from his Father. Jonah didn't like the assignment God had given him, so he tried to run away. It says, "Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord."
The Lord sends a violent storm that's about to destroy Jonah's getaway ship. Meanwhile, Jonah is sleeping down below. The captain rouses him and "Then the sailors said to each other, 'Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.' They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah." Well, now, the terrified sailors then find out Jonah belongs to Jehovah God and it says "...they asked, 'What have you done?' (They knew he was running away from the Lord because he had already told them so.)"
So God's child, Jonah, is running from God. And just like that little boy we saw trying to get away from his Dad, you know his Father is going to catch him. Could it be that God brought us together today and asked me to talk about this because He knows you're running; running from your family's faith, or running from letting Him be the Lord of your life, or from something you know He's calling you to do?
Consider the cost of running from God. It cost Jonah his money, his sleep, his prayer line to God, his testimony to the people he was with, and it cost him the welfare of those close to him. I'll tell you, when you're running from God, you are a destabilizing, destructive force on everything and everyone around you. People you care about are getting hurt by your rebellion. Not to mention how much you're being hurt, or you're going to be hurt.
But like the loving Father He is, God has just kept on pursuing you, right to this moment. It's a good thing that parents do catch the child who's running away, isn't it, or they would eventually run into disaster or death. That's the only possible outcome when you're a fugitive from God.
Isn't it time to stop running and turn and face your Father, to let Him have you and to hold you? You have nothing to fear from going with your Heavenly Father. You have everything to fear from going against Him, from resisting Almighty God.
It could be that God has come to you on numerous occasions, tugging on your heart, saying, "Give Me your life...give your soul to My Son." His Son who died in your place to pay for every wrong thing, every selfish thing, every angry thing, every hurting thing you've ever done, He is the one you were made for. And He's coming to you and He's saying, "Open your heart to My Son." It's time to stop running, because ultimately you're going to run into an awful eternity.
Today it's time to run into God's arms. If you're ready to open your heart to Jesus Christ, you've been running so long. He gave His life for you. Would you tell Him, "I want you now, Jesus. I need you. I'm pinning all my hopes on you to have my sin forgiven and to go to heaven someday."
Our website is for you at a moment like this. And I want to encourage you to run there today. It's ANewStory.com, because your new story could begin with the information there.
Please, stop running from your Heavenly Father today before you run into a lot more pain.