Max Lucado Daily: OUR CONFLICT IS WITH SATAN
Make no mistake… the devil is a real devil! Every conflict is a contest with Satan and his forces. For that reason, the Bible says, “though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
What are these weapons? Prayer, worship, and Scripture. When we pray, we engage the power of God against the devil. When we worship, we do what Satan did not do. We place God on the throne. When we pick up the sword of Scripture, we do what Jesus did in the wilderness. He responded to Satan by proclaiming truth. And since Satan has a severe allergy to truth, he left Jesus alone. Satan will not linger long where God is praised and prayers are offered. And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 15
Then Azariah son of Obed, moved by the Spirit of God, went out to meet Asa. He said, “Listen carefully, Asa, and listen Judah and Benjamin: God will stick with you as long as you stick with him. If you look for him he will let himself be found; but if you leave him he’ll leave you. For a long time Israel didn’t have the real God, nor did they have the help of priest or teacher or book. But when they were in trouble and got serious, and decided to seek God, the God of Israel, God let himself be found. At that time it was a dog-eat-dog world; life was constantly up for grabs—no one, regardless of country, knew what the next day might bring. Nation battered nation, city pummeled city. God let loose every kind of trouble among them.
7 “But it’s different with you: Be strong. Take heart. Payday is coming!”
8-9 Asa heard the prophecy of Azariah son of Obed, took a deep breath, then rolled up his sleeves, and went to work: He cleaned out the obscene and polluting sacred shrines from the whole country of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim. He spruced up the Altar of God that was in front of The Temple porch. Then he called an assembly for all Judah and Benjamin, including those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living there at the time (for many from Israel had left their homes and joined forces with Asa when they saw that God was on his side).
10-15 They all arrived in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign for a great assembly of worship. From their earlier plunder they offered sacrifices of seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep for the worship. Then they bound themselves in a covenant to seek God, the God of their fathers, wholeheartedly, holding nothing back. And they agreed that anyone who refused to seek God, the God of Israel, should be killed, no matter who it was, young or old, man or woman. They shouted out their promise to God, a joyful sound accompanied with blasts from trumpets and rams’ horns. The whole country felt good about the covenant promise—they had given their promise joyfully from the heart. Anticipating the best, they had sought God—and he showed up, ready to be found. God gave them peace within and without—a most peaceable kingdom!
16-19 In his cleanup of the country, Asa went so far as to remove his mother, Queen Maacah, from her throne because she had built a shockingly obscene image of the sex goddess Asherah. Asa tore it down, smashed it, and burned it up in the Kidron Valley. Unfortunately he didn’t get rid of the local sex-and-religion shrines. But he was well-intentioned—his heart was in the right place, loyal to God. All the gold and silver vessels and artifacts that he and his father had consecrated for holy use he installed in The Temple of God. There wasn’t a trace of war up to the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 17, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 28:16–20
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.d 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.e 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,f baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,g 20 and teachingh them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with youi always, to the very end of the age.”
Insight
The events in our passage from the final chapter of Matthew take place soon after Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. At dawn “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” had gone to “look at [Jesus’] tomb” (Matthew 28:1). Mary Magdalene was the woman from Magdala who’d been healed of seven evil spirits and was one of the women who helped support Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:1–3). But who was this “other Mary”? Many believe she was “Mary the wife of Clopas” (John 19:25). Others say she was Mary the mother of James and Joseph (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40; Luke 24:10). And others declare she was both the wife of Clopas and the mother of James and Joseph. No matter her identity, she and Mary Magdalene expected to see a closed tomb and instead met the risen Christ Himself (Matthew 28:1–9). By: Alyson Kieda
Ever-Present Presence
Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20
During the 2018 World Cup, Colombian forward Radamel Falcao scored in the seventieth minute against Poland, securing a victory. The dramatic goal was Falcao’s thirtieth in international play, earning him the distinction of scoring the most goals by a Colombian player in international competition.
Falcao has often used his success on the soccer pitch to share his faith, frequently lifting his jersey after a score to reveal a shirt with the words, Con Jesus nunca estara solo: “With Jesus you’ll never be alone.”
Falcao’s statement points us to the reassuring promise from Jesus, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Knowing He was about to return to heaven, Jesus comforted His disciples by assuring them He’d always be with them, through the presence of His Spirit (v. 20; John 14:16–18). Christ’s Spirit would comfort, guide, protect, and empower them as they took the message of Jesus to cities both near and far. And when they experienced periods of intense loneliness in unfamiliar places, Christ’s words would likely echo in their ears, a reminder of His presence with them.
No matter where we go, whether close to home or faraway, as we follow Jesus into the unknown we too can cling to this same promise. Even when we experience feelings of loneliness, as we reach out in prayer to Jesus, we can receive comfort knowing He’s with us. By: Lisa M. Samra
Reflect & Pray
How does the assurance that Jesus is always with you provide comfort? How has He comforted you when you felt alone?
Jesus, thank You that I’m never alone because You’re with me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 17, 2020
Taking the Initiative Against Depression
Arise and eat. —1 Kings 19:5
The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive— only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things— things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
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
Monday, February 17, 2020
Life-Changing Leadership - #8636
Both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush called him one of the American Presidents that they revered the most, and he's right up there with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln on Mount Rushmore - Theodore Roosevelt. He became a national hero, and soon President of the United States after his heroic leadership in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The objective of his unit was to take this strategic Kettle Hill and then San Juan Hill. Ultimately, his troops would have to advance uphill in the face of withering enemy fire. And his soldiers would long remember the order he gave to launch what turned out to be an historic advance. Unlike many military leaders, Teddy Roosevelt did not say, "Charge!" Instead, he shouted, "Follow me!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life-Changing Leadership."
What an exciting example of real leadership. Not just pointing people in the way you want them to go, but taking them there! It is, in fact, the leadership style of Jesus. In 1 Peter 2:21, our word for today from the Word of God, He says, "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps." That word "example" in the Greek, literally refers to the letters that were at the top of a school child's slate in those days. That was the model that you copied in order to get it right. For us, that's Jesus.
He didn't just point in a direction and say, "Go for it!" His recurring invitation was, "Follow Me." That kind of leadership demands a life that measures up to your words. If you're in a position right now where you're trying to move people in the right direction - whether it's your children, your church, your class, your co-workers, your Bible study, your youth group, your employees - it's important to remember how to get folks charging ahead, even if it's uphill, even if you're drawing fire. You've got to present to them such a compelling model; such an inspiring "follow me" that it's going to be contagious.
For months, Jesus' disciples saw Him slip off every morning to spend time talking to His Heavenly Father. He never announced He was holding a seminar on prayer for them. But eventually, as recorded in Luke 11:1, the disciples came to Him and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." He didn't nag them to that point, He led them to that point by showing them what praying looked like; by showing them how much He valued it.
Paul demonstrated that kind of lifestyle leadership when he said, "When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly...I urge you to imitate me...my way of life in Christ Jesus...agrees with what I teach everywhere" (1 Corinthians 4:12, 16-17). And then he would say in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."
Ultimately, it's not your position or your title that gives you leadership. It's the way you live your life. It's the consistency of your convictions. It's the way you treat people. It's the kind of person you are more than the kind of position you hold that makes you a leader. If you wish that things and people around you were different in some way, start being that way yourself!
A leader's number one responsibility is to set the climate where they are. Ultimately, it won't be preaching that gets those folks moving, or nagging, or criticizing, or demanding. It will be giving them an example to follow. Remember, it's not "Charge!" but "Follow me!" that gives life-changing leadership!