Max Lucado Daily: OUR DEPENDABLE GOD
From the first chapter of Scripture, the Bible makes a case for the dependability of God. Without exception when God spoke, something wonderful happened. By divine fiat there was light, land, beaches, and creatures. God consulted no advisers. He needed no assistance. “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:9).
The same power is seen in Jesus. He is unchanging. He’s never caught off guard by the unexpected. “God never changes or casts a shifting shadow” (James 1:17). God is strong. He does not overpromise and under deliver. “God is able to do whatever he promises” (Romans 4:21).
“It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). God will keep his promises! It must happen because of who God is! And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 6
Then Solomon said,
God said he would dwell in a cloud,
But I’ve built a temple most splendid,
A place for you to live in forever.
3 The king then turned to face the congregation that had come together and blessed them:
4-6 “Blessed be God, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David. Now he has done what he promised when he said, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel up from Egypt, I haven’t set apart one city among the tribes of Israel in which to build a temple to honor my Name, or chosen one person to be the leader. But now I have chosen both a city and a person: Jerusalem for honoring my Name and David to lead my people Israel.’
7-9 “My father David very much wanted to build a temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel, but God told him, ‘It was good that you wanted to build a temple in my honor—most commendable! But you are not the one to do it. Your son, who will carry on your dynasty, will build it for my Name.’
10-11 “And now you see the promise completed. God has done what he said he would do; I have succeeded David my father and now rule Israel; and I have built a temple to honor God, the God of Israel, and have secured a place for the Chest that holds the Covenant of God, the covenant he made with the people of Israel.”
12-16 Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took his position at the Altar of God and stretched out his hands. Solomon had made a bronze dais seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high and placed it inside the court; that’s where he now stood. Then he knelt in full view of the whole congregation, stretched his hands to heaven, and prayed:
God, O God of Israel, there is no God like you in the skies above or on the earth below, who unswervingly keeps covenant with his servants and unfailingly loves them while they sincerely live in obedience to your way. You kept your word to David my father, your promise. You did exactly what you promised—every detail. The proof is before us today!
Keep it up, God, O God of Israel! Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, “You’ll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel’s throne, on the one condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have.”
17 O God, God of Israel, let this all happen—
confirm and establish it!
18-21 Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I’ve built. Even so, I’m bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I’m setting before you right now. Keep your eyes open to this Temple day and night, this place you promised to dignify with your Name. And listen to the prayers that I pray in this place. And listen to your people Israel when they pray at this place.
Listen from your home in heaven
and when you hear, forgive.
22 When someone hurts a neighbor and promises to make things right, and then comes and repeats the promise before your Altar in this Temple,
23 Listen from heaven and act;
judge your servants, making the offender pay for the offense
And set the offended free,
dismissing all charges.
24-25 When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy because they’ve sinned against you, but then turn to you and acknowledge your rule in prayers desperate and devout in this Temple,
Listen from your home in heaven;
forgive the sin of your people Israel,
return them to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.
26-27 When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quit their sins because you have scourged them,
Listen from your home in heaven,
forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel.
Then start over with them;
train them to live right and well;
Send rain on the land
you gave as inheritance to your people.
28-31 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort—any prayer that’s prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, their hearts penetrated by disaster, hands and arms thrown out for help to this Temple,
Listen from your home in heaven, forgive and reward us:
reward each life and circumstance,
For you know each life from the inside,
(you’re the only one with such inside knowledge!),
So they’ll live before you in lifelong reverence and believing
obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.
32 And don’t forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation—people are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonderworking power—and who come to pray to this Temple.
33 Listen from your home in heaven
and honor the prayers of the foreigner,
So that people all over the world
will know who you are and what you’re like,
And live in reverent obedience before you,
just as your own people Israel do,
So they’ll know that you personally
make this Temple that I’ve built what it is.
34-35 When your people go to war against their enemies at the time and place you send them and they pray to God toward the city you chose and The Temple I’ve built to honor your Name,
Listen from heaven to what they pray and ask for
and do what is right for them.
36-39 When they sin against you—and they certainly will; there’s no one without sin!—and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken captive to the enemy’s land, whether far or near, but repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, “We’ve sinned; we’ve done wrong; we’ve been most wicked,” and turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name,
Listen from your home in heaven
to their prayers desperate and devout;
Do what is best for them.
Forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40 And now, dear God, be alert and attentive to prayer, all prayer, offered in this place.
41-42 Up, God, enjoy your new place of quiet repose,
you and your mighty covenant Chest;
Dress your priests up in salvation clothes,
let your holy people celebrate goodness.
And don’t, God, back out on your anointed ones,
keep in mind the love promised to David your servant.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 04, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 5:43–48
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbori z and hate your enemy.’a 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,b 45 that you may be childrenc of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.d 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?e Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.f
Insight
One of Israel’s earliest national laws commanded them to treat their enemies with benevolence and respect (Exodus 23:4–5). In Matthew 5:43–48, Jesus clarified why this was commanded. In loving our enemies, we’re emulating the generosity and kindness that God our Father has shown to all men, including the wicked (v. 45). Paul similarly called us not to “repay anyone evil for evil” (Romans 12:17). Instead, we’re to “overcome evil with good” (v. 21). We can do this because we can trust God to administer justice (v. 19).
God-Sized Love
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Matthew 5:46
I once visited an impoverished neighborhood of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Homes were made of corrugated iron, with electrical wires dangling live above them. There I had the privilege of interviewing families and hearing how churches were helping to combat unemployment, drug use, and crime.
In one alleyway I climbed a rickety ladder to a small room to interview a mother and her son. But just a moment later someone rushed up, saying, “We must leave now.” A machete-wielding gang leader was apparently gathering a mob to ambush us.
We visited a second neighborhood, but there we had no problem. Later I discovered why. As I visited each home, a gang leader stood outside guarding us. It turned out his daughter was being fed and educated by the church, and because believers were standing by her, he stood by us.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presents a standard of love that’s beyond comparison. This kind of love embraces not just the “worthy” but the undeserving (Matthew 5:43–45), reaching beyond family and friends to touch those who can’t or won’t love us back (vv. 46–47). This is God-sized love (v. 48)—the kind that blesses everyone.
As believers in Santo Domingo live out this love, neighborhoods are starting to change. Tough hearts are warming to their cause. That’s what happens when God-sized love comes to town. By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
How would you describe the difference between human love and godly love? Who can you bless today who can’t repay you?
Jesus, pour Your love into me so I may pour it out to others—even to those who can’t repay the favor.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 04, 2020
The Compelling Majesty of His Power
The love of Christ compels us… —2 Corinthians 5:14
Paul said that he was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by “the love of Christ.” Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul, to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. “The love of Christ compels us….” When you hear that coming from the life of a man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know that the Spirit of God is completely unhindered in that person’s life.
When we are born again by the Spirit of God, our testimony is based solely on what God has done for us, and rightly so. But that will change and be removed forever once you “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). Only then will you begin to realize what Jesus meant when He went on to say, “…you shall be witnesses to Me….” Not witnesses to what Jesus can do— that is basic and understood— but “witnesses to Me….” We will accept everything that happens as if it were happening to Him, whether we receive praise or blame, persecution or reward. No one is able to take this stand for Jesus Christ who is not totally compelled by the majesty of His power. It is the only thing that matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the last thing we as Christian workers realize. Paul said that he was gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did. People could perceive him as mad or sane— he did not care. There was only one thing he lived for— to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and to tell them of “the love of Christ.” This total surrender to “the love of Christ” is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. Not Knowing Whither, 903 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 04, 2020
So Beautiful, So Dead - #8627
Flowers are always special. They just seem kind of more special in the winter. There was a lady who worked in our ministry offices and she had some flowers on her desk. I stopped by to pick up some work, and there I saw these beautiful flowers in a vase. That's pretty significant. I mean, after all, how many times do the words "man" and "notice" ever go together in the same sentence, right? Actually, I noticed a few more times as I hustled down the hall past her door. Then I actually put on the brakes for a moment and I stuck my head in to smell the flowers on her desk. It wasn't worth the stop. There was no smell. They're fake!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "So Beautiful, So Dead."
Those flowers can sure fool you. They look so real, but they have no life. Just like so many folks who look like they really belong to Jesus Christ, but there's no life there. Jesus warned us about this fatal difference in His story about God's Kingdom being like a wheat field where wheat grows right next to another grass that looks just like wheat. Jesus said no man can tell which is the real wheat until harvest time, or Judgment Day. Then the "wheat" will be gathered into heaven and the wheat lookalike will be burned.
In another place, Jesus describes people who will come before Him on Judgment Day, talking all the right Christian words and beliefs and activities. They've got the resume, but He'll tell them, "I never knew you." That's frightening stuff. You can see why the Bible said in 2 Corinthians 13:5, which is our word for today from the Word of God, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?" The time to realize that you know about Jesus but you don't know Him is now, not when you're standing before Him, because then it's too late.
Just like those artificial flowers that are so beautiful but so dead. It's so easy to look like someone who belongs to Jesus but not really know Him. Especially if you've been around Jesus most of your life. You know the words. You believe the beliefs. You try to do the right things. You go to the right meetings. You give to the right things. And, quite possibly, everyone around you assumes you belong to Him except Jesus. And He's the only one who matters.
That "examine yourself" verse says to make sure "Christ Jesus is in you." A lot of people have Jesus around them, but not in them because there's never been a time when they consciously, personally really opened up their life to Him. He can be in your head, but not in your heart. Which means you will miss heaven by eighteen inches. That's how far it is from your head to your heart. And God says, "It is with the heart man believes and is saved" (Romans 10:9).
One night I went into a church not married. The woman I wanted to marry came down the aisle. We stood in front of the minister. We walked out together, but I left still not married. It was the rehearsal. The next night, same woman, same man, s
ame minister, same aisle, but this time I walked out married. The first night I was just going through the motions. The second night I committed my life to her. Maybe you've been going through all the motions of knowing Jesus. But somewhere, you've missed the step of saying, "Jesus, I know what you did on that cross was for me. And you're my only hope. Beginning right here, beginning right now, I'm Yours!" That's when you give yourself to Him.
If you know you've done that, you really do belong to Him. If you don't know you've done that, you probably haven't. But that could change today. And what a relief, what a difference there's going to be when you're His for real.
Let me encourage you to say today, "Jesus, I'm yours." And to go to our website. Right there I think I can help walk you through the beginning of a relationship with Jesus Christ so you can be sure you belong to Him. That website is ANewStory.com. I hope you'll get there today.
There's no more going through the motions. No, make this the real deal. Let this be your personal Jesus-day!
