Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS
We are all made in God’s image and in his likeness! Sin has distorted this image, but it has not destroyed it. Our moral purity has been tainted, but do not think for a moment that God has rescinded his promise or altered his plan. He still creates people in his image to bear his likeness and reflect his glory.
As we fellowship with God, read his Word, obey his commands, and seek to reflect his character, something wonderful emerges. We say things God would say. We do things God would do. We forgive, we share, and we love. In time an image begins to appear. God’s goal is simply to rub away anything that is not of him so the inborn image of God can be seen in us! Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 10
Rehoboam traveled to Shechem where all Israel had gathered to inaugurate him as king. Jeroboam was then in Egypt, where he had taken asylum from King Solomon; when he got the report of Solomon’s death, he came back.
3-4 Summoned by Israel, Jeroboam and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said, “Your father made life hard for us—worked our fingers to the bone. Give us a break; lighten up on us and we’ll willingly serve you.”
5 “Give me,” said Rehoboam, “three days to think it over; then come back.” So the people left.
6 King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: “What’s your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?”
7 They said, “If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they’ll end up doing anything for you.”
8-9 But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor, “What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, ‘Give us a break from your father’s harsh ways—lighten up on us’?”
10-11 The young turks he’d grown up with said, “These people who complain, ‘Your father was too hard on us; lighten up’—well, tell them this: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!’”
12-14 Three days later Jeroboam and the people showed up, just as Rehoboam had directed when he said, “Give me three days to think it over; then come back.” The king’s answer was harsh and rude. He spurned the counsel of the elders and went with the advice of the younger set: “If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it: my father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!”
15 Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. God was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh.
16-17 When all Israel realized that the king hadn’t listened to a word they’d said, they stood up to him and said,
Get lost, David!
We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse!
Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast!
From now on, David, mind your own business.
And with that they left. Rehoboam continued to rule only those who lived in the towns of Judah.
18-19 When King Rehoboam next sent out Adoniram, head of the workforce, the Israelites ganged up on him, pelted him with stones, and killed him. King Rehoboam jumped in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem as fast as he could. Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty ever since.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 12:9–16
Love in Action
9 Love must be sincere.v Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.w 10 Be devoted to one another in love.x Honor one another above yourselves.y 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,z serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope,a patient in affliction,b faithful in prayer.c 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.d Practice hospitality.e
14 Bless those who persecute you;f bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.g 16 Live in harmony with one another.h Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.c Do not be conceited.i
Insight
Most of Paul’s letters were directed to churches he and his team had planted, but Rome (like Colossae) was an exception. So how did the church at Rome begin? One theory is that it got its start on the day of Pentecost—the day the church itself was born. On that day, as the uneducated disciples of Jesus began speaking of Him in languages previously unlearned, Luke records a list of places from which people had gathered to celebrate the feast in Jerusalem. Among them are “visitors from Rome” (Acts 2:10). The belief is that these hearers of the gospel message carried it with them back to their home and began to evangelize the city—the most powerful city in the world of that day. This resulted in the establishment of the church in Rome to whom Paul wrote his most theological letter, the book of Romans. By: Bill Crowder
In It Together
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15
During a two-month period in 1994, as many as one million Tutsis were slain in Rwanda by Hutu tribe members bent on killing their fellow countrymen. In the wake of this horrific genocide, Bishop Geoffrey Rwubusisi approached his wife about reaching out to women whose loved ones had been slain. Mary’s reply was, “All I want to do is cry.” She too had lost members of her family. The bishop’s response was that of a wise leader and caring husband: “Mary, gather the women together and cry with them.” He knew his wife’s pain had prepared her to uniquely share in the pain of others.
The church, the family of God, is where all of life can be shared—the good and not-so-good. The New Testament words “one another” are used to capture our interdependence. “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. . . . Live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:10, 16). The extent of our connectedness is expressed in verse 15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
While the depth and scope of our pain may pale in comparison with those affected by genocide, it’s nonetheless personal and real. And, as with the pain of Mary, because of what God has done for us it can be embraced and shared for the comfort and good of others. By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
When have you allowed someone else to share your sorrow? How does the body of Christ—the church—help you deal with the hard times in life?
Gracious God, forgive me for my reluctance to enter the pain of others. Help me to live more fully as a connected member of Your church.
Learn about loving as Jesus does at discoveryseries.org/q0208.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 10, 2020
Is Your Ability to See God Blinded?
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things… —Isaiah 40:26
The people of God in Isaiah’s time had blinded their minds’ ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our blinded thinking to visualize it.
The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see has been blinded, don’t look back on your own experiences, but look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has been blinding your thinking. Wake up and accept the ridicule that Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts and your eyes to God.
One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power of visualization is what God gives a saint so that he can go beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationships he never before experienced.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 10, 2020
Just Stuff - #8631
If it's spring in America, someone is going to get hit with floods unfortunately. Years ago, I think it was April 1997, North Dakota got hit hard - especially in the area around Grand Forks, North Dakota. One woman who had to flee her home was interviewed by a reporter. She was eating her lunch in a school shelter where hundreds of victims were bivouacked. She must have surprised that reporter when she said, "You know, I feel very fortunate." I mean, after all, what had been her home only a day before was now awash in sewage and fuel. Then she gave her reasons for feeling fortunate. And you often hear this after a disaster. She just said, "My children are all safe. The rest is just stuff."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Just Stuff."
Now, that's a woman who, in the midst of losing a lot, had sorted out some of life's really core values. That's what God is calling us to do in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 2:15. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him ... The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
If God were teaching us in a classroom setting, He might draw a line down the center of the chalkboard and He'd put these headings at the top of each column: "Stuff that doesn't last" and "Stuff that does last." And He says to not get too attached to earth-stuff because it "passes away."
Our great love, our great passion, and our great pursuit should be for the "will of God" things that we can't lose. The rest is "just stuff." It's all part of Jesus' command to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33), even though we're surrounded by people who are totally consumed with getting possessions, getting promotions, getting prosperity, or getting prominence.
Actually, we've found that two of the most liberating words in the English language are these: "Earth stuff." Yep, over and over, my wife and I found ourselves saying those two words to regain our perspective in tough financial times, when something broke or got lost, or when we were trying to make some difficult choices. It just helps to stand back, look at what's really at stake, and be able to sort out what is "just earth stuff." It actually frees you from so much worry, anxiety and misplaced effort.
My life was profoundly affected by something that happened when I was becoming a teenager. Five American missionaries were martyred in their attempt to reach a tribe in the jungles of Ecuador; a tribe who had never heard the name of Jesus. Later, the widow of one and the sister of another went to that tribe to tell them about Jesus. Today, much of the Auca or Waodani Tribe knows Christ, and the murderers of the missionaries are the leaders of the Waodani church. Thousands of people are in God's work today, including me, because of the challenge of their example.
Jim Elliot, one of the martyred missionaries, sorted out the ultimate values in life in a powerful statement he wrote once. Here's what he said: "He is no fool who
gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Well, that's it right there.
Either you live for the things you cannot ultimately keep, or you live for the things you can never lose. So which ones are you pursuing?