Max Lucado Daily: HE KNOWS YOU
Are you open to the idea of a Father, a heavenly Father, who knows you? A soon-to-be home that awaits you? Would you consider this life- changing idea? The almighty and all-knowing God has set his affection on you. Every detail about you he knows. Your interests, your hang- ups, your fears, and your failures…He knows you!
About his children God says, “The Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought” (1 Chronicles 28:9). King David wrote, “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me…you knew my path” (Psalm 142:3).
Do you know this God who knows you? He knows your name. And he can’t wait to get you home. The ever-recurring, soul-lifting message of heaven is this— “The Lord delights in you” (Isaiah 62:4).
2 Corinthians 9
If I wrote any more on this relief offering for the poor Christians, I’d be repeating myself. I know you’re on board and ready to go. I’ve been bragging about you all through Macedonia province, telling them, “Achaia province has been ready to go on this since last year.” Your enthusiasm by now has spread to most of them.
3-5 Now I’m sending the brothers to make sure you’re ready, as I said you would be, so my bragging won’t turn out to be just so much hot air. If some Macedonians and I happened to drop in on you and found you weren’t prepared, we’d all be pretty red-faced—you and us—for acting so sure of ourselves. So to make sure there will be no slipup, I’ve recruited these brothers as an advance team to get you and your promised offering all ready before I get there. I want you to have all the time you need to make this offering in your own way. I don’t want anything forced or hurried at the last minute.
6-7 Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.
8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,
He throws caution to the winds,
giving to the needy in reckless abandon.
His right-living, right-giving ways
never run out, never wear out.
This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.
12-15 Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they’ll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 02, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 4:18–22
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee,p he saw two brothers, Simon called Peterq and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,”r Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.s
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.t They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.u
Insight
Jesus appointed twelve men as His apostles: “Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot” (Luke 6:14–16). All of these men left something or someone behind to follow Jesus (Matthew 19:27). We know from Matthew 4:18–22 that brothers Simon Peter and Andrew and brothers James and John all left their nets. But what about the others? Simon the Zealot was either a member of an extremist political group who fought against the Roman occupation of Israel or a member of the religious group noted for zeal for the Law. He no doubt left his extreme views behind. But the only other disciple we’re told about specifically was Matthew (Levi). Jesus told him, “Follow me,” and Matthew got up and left his “tax collector’s booth” (his lucrative career) to follow Christ (9:9).
A Call to Leave
At once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:20
As a young woman, I imagined myself married to my high school sweetheart—until we broke up. My future yawned emptily before me and I struggled with what to do with my life. At last I sensed God leading me to serve Him by serving others and enrolled in seminary. Then the reality crashed through that I’d be moving away from my roots, friends, and family. In order to respond to God’s call, I had to leave.
Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee when He saw Peter and his brother Andrew casting nets into the sea, fishing for a living. He invited them to “Come, follow me . . . and I will send you out to fish for people” (Matthew 4:19). Then Jesus saw two other fishermen, James and his brother John, and offered them a similar invitation (v. 21).
When these disciples came to Jesus, they also left something. Peter and Andrew “left their nets” (v. 20). James and John “left the boat and their father and followed him” (v. 22). Luke puts it this way: “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:11).
Every call to Jesus also includes a call from something else. Net. Boat. Father. Friends. Home. God calls all of us to a relationship with Himself. Then He calls each of us to serve. By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
How could God’s call to follow Him also call you from something else? In what ways can you trust Him with what you may be leaving?
Loving God, help me understand what I might need to leave in order to respond to Your call.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 02, 2020
Have You Felt the Pain Inflicted by the Lord?
He said to him the third time, "…do you love Me?" —John 21:17
Have you ever felt the pain, inflicted by the Lord, at the very center of your being, deep down in the most sensitive area of your life? The devil never inflicts pain there, and neither can sin nor human emotions. Nothing can cut through to that part of our being but the Word of God. “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ ” Yet he was awakened to the fact that at the center of his personal life he was devoted to Jesus. And then he began to see what Jesus’ patient questioning meant. There was not the slightest bit of doubt left in Peter’s mind; he could never be deceived again. And there was no need for an impassioned response; no need for immediate action or an emotional display. It was a revelation to him to realize how much he did love the Lord, and with amazement he simply said, “Lord, You know all things….” Peter began to see how very much he did love Jesus, and there was no need to say, “Look at this or that as proof of my love.” Peter was beginning to discover within himself just how much he really did love the Lord. He discovered that his eyes were so fixed on Jesus Christ that he saw no one else in heaven above or on the earth below. But he did not know it until the probing, hurting questions of the Lord were asked. The Lord’s questions always reveal the true me to myself.
Oh, the wonder of the patient directness and skill of Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord never asks questions until the perfect time. Rarely, but probably once in each of our lives, He will back us into a corner where He will hurt us with His piercing questions. Then we will realize that we do love Him far more deeply than our words can ever say.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.
Biblical Psychology
Bible in a Year: Numbers 26-27; Mark 8:1-21
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 02, 2020
Kobe Bryant's Biggest Game - and Yours - #8646
I think most of us remember hearing that news first about Kobe Bryant's sudden death in the helicopter crash. I notice a deep sense of sadness people have. A lot of times it was like they almost had lost somebody that they knew. And then we learned his 13-year-old daughter had died and seven other extraordinary people were also lost in that crash.
You know, Kobe Bryant did have amazing basketball achievements and had superstar status that made this crash a tragedy that was kind of felt around the world. Five NBA championships. Two Olympic gold medals. His famous "work ethic" that a lot of young players called their inspiration. One time he said, "I was blessed with talent, but I worked as if I had none."
Now, I've done a lot of life-coaching over the years, and I'm thinking that Kobe played his biggest and best game after his NBA career ended. Because of where his values seemed to land. A lot of the tributes for Kobe referenced some of the darkest chapters in his life. But it's the way Kobe Bryant lived his remaining years that, measured spiritually, might have been his "biggest game."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Kobe Bryant's Biggest Game - and Yours."
As evidenced even by what he did in his final hours we saw his values. He went to church. And he was being a dad. Now none of us can know a person's heart or the depth of their faith. But we can acknowledge choices that elevate the things that really matter in this life.
People close to the Bryants called Kobe "a hands-on dad." That's a good thing. The biggest points a man will ever score in his life aren't on a court. They're the legacy of love and encouragement that he gives his children. A lot of people can be a hero on the "court" of life. But you're the only guy in the whole world who's "Dad" for your kids. Apparently, Kobe Bryant answered that wakeup call. He invested in his marriage and his daughters. You know, being a hero at home; that's where heroism really matters.
But even more important than investing in your family is what Jesus called "seeking first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33). Because the One who gives us life and breath is often pushed to the edge of our life because we're seeking our kingdom. But the challenges of family, the reality check of our personal failures, the things that are beyond our control to fix - they can force you beyond "I believe in God." To "I really need God."
Kobe Bryant was actually pressed in an interview to explain what he had learned from that darkest chapter in his life. And he said, "God is great. It don't get no simpler than that." "Well, didn't he know that before the interview?" the interviewer asked. Bryant said, "You can know it all you want. But until He picks up that cross that you can't carry and carries you and the cross - then you know."
Well, I get that, because that's what Jesus did for me when the love of my life, my amazing Karen, was suddenly gone
to heaven. In the deepest, darkest valley of my life, He picked me up, and the heaviest "cross" of my life, and He carried me.
And when our "eternity moment" comes - as it did for nine people on a California hillside that Sunday, that relationship is really all that matters. All the trophies, the applause suddenly mean nothing. The Bible says, "Your life is like the morning fog - it's here a little while, then it's gone" (James 4:14). In our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 27:1, God says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring."
One heart malfunction. One driver crossing the middle line. As a friend said in his Facebook post, "Here's the sobering reality. Any moment could be our last." He's right. In that moment, all that will matter is whether I'm right with God. I can't get into heaven with my sin. You can't either. And only one person can forgive our sin. The One who died to pay our death penalty for hijacking our life from God. That's why I'm so grateful for Jesus' promise: "Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die" (John 11:26).
Look, if you want that resurrection power in your life, you want that love in your life, you want to be sure you're ready for eternity, would you tell Jesus today "I'm yours" because you died for me. You rose from the dead for me."
Go to our website and let us help you there be sure you belong to Him. That website is ANewStory.com. Because there is no greater peace than knowing you're ready for eternity. Whenever it comes, however it comes.