Max Lucado Daily: AN ORDINARY LIFE
1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.
I invite you to pray this prayer with me:
Loving Father, you made me, so you know very well that I am but dust. Yet you have called me into your kingdom to serve you at this specific place, at this specific time, for a very specific purpose. Despite my ordinariness, I belong to you—and you are anything but ordinary! Help me pour out your grace and compassion among others that they, too, may experience the richness of your love. Through me, my Father, show others how you can use an ordinary life to bring extraordinary blessing into the world. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Psalm 85
A Korah Psalm
God, you smiled on your good earth!
You brought good times back to Jacob!
You lifted the cloud of guilt from your people,
you put their sins far out of sight.
You took back your sin-provoked threats,
you cooled your hot, righteous anger.
4-7 Help us again, God of our help;
don’t hold a grudge against us forever.
You aren’t going to keep this up, are you?
scowling and angry, year after year?
Why not help us make a fresh start—a resurrection life?
Then your people will laugh and sing!
Show us how much you love us, God!
Give us the salvation we need!
8-9 I can’t wait to hear what he’ll say.
God’s about to pronounce his people well,
The holy people he loves so much,
so they’ll never again live like fools.
See how close his salvation is to those who fear him?
Our country is home base for Glory!
10-13 Love and Truth meet in the street,
Right Living and Whole Living embrace and kiss!
Truth sprouts green from the ground,
Right Living pours down from the skies!
Oh yes! God gives Goodness and Beauty;
our land responds with Bounty and Blessing.
Right Living strides out before him,
and clears a path for his passage.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 06, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Hebrews 13:1–3
Concluding Exhortations
13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.k 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,l for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.m 3 Continue to remember those in prisonn as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Insight
Scholars are uncertain of the author, date, and audience of the book of Hebrews, but it appears to be written for Jews (Hebrews) who are evaluating the claims of Jesus or struggling with their faith. Chapters 1–10 point to the superiority of Christ to the angels, Moses, and the high priests.
In chapter 13, the author concludes his letter with final exhortations. Verse 1 begins with a call to maintain brotherly love and then verse 2 encourages readers to go further by extending love to strangers (those outside the community) by offering meals and lodging. This command is reinforced by the observation that some people “have shown hospitality to angels” without knowing it, and points to Abraham, Gideon, and Manoah and his wife’s encounters (Genesis 18:2, 16; Judges 6:11; 13:2–11). Verse 3 calls readers to remember (and extend empathy) to prisoners and the mistreated. By Alyson Kieda
Mysterious Helpers
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2
Louise suffers from muscular dystrophy. While trying to exit a train station one day, she found herself facing a large flight of stairs without an elevator or escalator. On the verge of tears, Louise saw a man suddenly appear, pick up her bag, and gently help her up the stairs. When she turned to thank him, he was gone.
Michael was late for a meeting. Already stressed from a relationship breakdown, he started battling London’s traffic only to get a flat tire. As he stood helplessly in the rain, a man stepped out of the crowd, opened the boot (trunk), jacked up the car, and changed the wheel. When Michael turned to thank him, he was gone.
Who were these mysterious helpers? Kind strangers, or something more?
The popular image we have of angels as radiant or winged creatures is only half true. While some appear this way (Isaiah 6:2; Matthew 28:3), others come with dusty feet, ready for a meal (Genesis 18:1–5) and are easily mistaken for everyday people (Judges 13:16). The writer of Hebrews says that by showing hospitality to strangers, we can entertain angels without realizing it (13:2).
We don’t know if Louise and Michael’s helpers were angels. But according to Scripture, they could have been. Angels are at work right now, helping God’s people (Hebrews 1:14). And they can appear as ordinary as a person on the street. By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
What do you know about angels? Can you think of an instance when you may have encountered one without realizing it at the time?
Thank You, God, for the angels You send, meeting us in our time of need.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 06, 2020
Worship
He moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. —Genesis 12:8
Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love-gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard it for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded (see Exodus 16:20). God will never allow you to keep a spiritual blessing completely for yourself. It must be given back to Him so that He can make it a blessing to others.
Bethel is the symbol of fellowship with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abram “pitched his tent” between the two. The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him. Rushing in and out of worship is wrong every time— there is always plenty of time to worship God. Days set apart for quiet can be a trap, detracting from the need to have daily quiet time with God. That is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be. There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. Yet some of us seem to jump like spiritual frogs from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one. They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 06, 2020
Singular Love - #8606
It was one of those primitive science experiments that a lot of boys try. OK, it's a sunny winter day. You lay out a board on the ground - this is what I did anyway. Now you can leave it there all day with the sun beating down on it. It won't even get warm. Oh, but now the exciting part of the experiment. Yep! You take a piece of glass and you focus the sun's rays on one spot on that board. Same sun, same board - very different result. Eventually, that board starts to get hot - and you've got smoke - maybe even a fire going there. Amazing, huh?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Singular Love."
It really makes a difference when you focus the warmth of the sun on one spot. It really makes a difference when you focus the warmth of your love on one person. Especially if that person is the life partner you have or one of the children God has entrusted to you. The question for today isn't whether you love your family - I'm sure you do. The question is does each member of your family feel loved by you. Well, that might depend on how much focused love they get from you.
As always, Jesus is a wonderful example for us in how we need to treat people. Like in our word for today from the Word of God, Luke 8:42, we have an example. "As Jesus was on His way, the crowds almost crushed Him." Okay, lots of people who need Him, lots of demands for His attention. That sound familiar at all? Sound like you? Well it goes on to say, "A woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped."
"'Who touched Me,' Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, 'Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.'" Again, maybe a feeling you can relate to. "But Jesus said, 'Someone touched Me. I know that power has gone out from Me.' Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at His feet. Then He said, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.'"
I love that story. It's so indicative of our Lord's heart - in the midst of great pressures and many needs, He is able to focus His love and attention on just one person. He's showing us how we ought to live. And right now, I'm thinking especially about how we live at home. For your spouse, for your son or daughter, to feel loved by you, they need your exclusive attention on a regular basis. Not just a general "I love all of you, family." Well, that's about as powerful as the unfocused sun on that board. It's when you focus your love on one person that the fire of love is kindled in their heart.
To make this practical, let me suggest a commitment to consider - "I will give each member of my family ALL of me at least once a day." Well, some days it might be for two minutes and others for two hours. But you consciously go to each one sometime during the day and you give them your total, undivided, undistracted love and attention. It's not the frantic, occasional bursts of love that make people feel loved. It's that regular, consistent, focused attention, making the person you're with feel like they're the only person on earth right now.
The people you love may have had you around them quite a bit, but not really with them - listening, working together, sharing feelings, laughing, hugging, encouraging. Why not commit yourself to consciously follow your Master's loving example - to warm the lives of those you love the most by, each day, aiming all your love just at them.
