Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS TESTING THE CHURCH
I think God is testing the church. By that I mean He is strengthening us. He’s calling upon us to be the people He desires for His church to be.
You will remember that when Jesus fed that crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children, the gospel tells us that Jesus tested his followers by telling them to feed those people. They could have and they should have looked to him and said, “Lord, you can do this.” And so that’s the call of the church right now…to be the people who come to God and say, God we cannot solve this but you can.
Bless our leaders. Bless those in research. Bless those who are vulnerable, we ask you Lord. So let’s be that people, folks. Let’s be people who call out to God in asking for help. We’re gonna get through this. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I’m not saying it’s gonna be quick. But God will take this and He will use it for good.
Isaiah 9
But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious— the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.
2-7 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.
8-10 The Master sent a message against Jacob.
It landed right on Israel’s doorstep.
All the people soon heard the message,
Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.
But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.
They dismissed the message, saying,
“Things aren’t that bad.
We can handle anything that comes.
If our buildings are knocked down,
we’ll rebuild them bigger and finer.
If our forests are cut down,
we’ll replant them with finer trees.”
11-12 So God incited their adversaries against them,
stirred up their enemies to attack:
From the east, Arameans; from the west, Philistines.
They made hash of Israel.
But even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
13-17 But the people paid no mind to him who hit them,
didn’t seek God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
So God hacked off Israel’s head and tail,
palm branch and reed, both on the same day.
The big-head elders were the head,
the lying prophets were the tail.
Those who were supposed to lead this people
led them down blind alleys,
And those who followed the leaders
ended up lost and confused.
That’s why the Master lost interest in the young men,
had no feeling for their orphans and widows.
All of them were godless and evil,
talking filth and folly.
And even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
18-21 Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire,
the kind that burns everything in its path—
Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses—
filling the skies with smoke.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire,
set the whole country on fire,
Turned the people into consuming fires,
consuming one another in their lusts—
Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging
themselves left and right with people and things.
But still they starved. Not even their children
were safe from their rapacious hunger.
Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
and then the two ganged up against Judah.
And after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 22:39–44
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
Jesus went out as usualv to the Mount of Olives,w and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”x 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt downy and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cupz from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”a 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.b 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Insight
When you leave the eastern side of the old city of Jerusalem, you descend into the valley of the Brook Kidron. Once across the Kidron, you come upon the garden of Gethsemane—located at the base of the Mount of Olives and in the shadow of the temple mount and its eastern gate (also known as the Golden Gate). This becomes strategic because Ezekiel 44:1–3 tells us that only the Prince (Messiah) will be able to enter that gate, causing some scholars to believe that when Jesus the Messiah returns, He’ll enter Jerusalem through that gate. It’s appropriate, then, that Jesus would begin His passion in the view of the gate which most represents His final victory. That strategic reality gains added significance in that the Hebrew name for the eastern gate is the “gate of mercy.” Mercy secured through the sufferings of Christ that began in Gethsemane.
Praying Like Jesus
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Luke 22:42
Every coin has two sides. The front is called “heads” and, from early Roman times, usually depicts a country’s head of state. The back is called “tails,” a term possibly originating from the British ten pence depicting the raised tail of a heraldic lion.
Like a coin, Christ’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane possesses two sides. In the deepest hours of His life, on the night before He died on a cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). When Christ says, “take this cup,” that’s the raw honesty of prayer. He reveals His personal desire, “This is what I want.”
Then Jesus turns the coin, praying “not my will.” That’s the side of abandon. Abandoning ourselves to God begins when we simply say, “But what do You want, God?”
This two-sided prayer is also included in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 and is mentioned in John 18. Jesus prayed both sides of prayer: take this cup (what I want, God), yet not My will (what do You want, God?), pivoting between them.
Two sides of Jesus. Two sides of prayer. By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
What might we learn if we prayed honestly and with complete abandon, as Jesus did? What situation are you facing right now where you can pray honestly yet with abandon to God?
Father, help me follow the example of Your Son, who spent everything so that I might possess real life that includes experiencing intimate prayer with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Helpful or Heartless Toward Others?
It is Christ…who also makes intercession for us….the Spirit…makes intercession for the saints… —Romans 8:34, 27
Do we need any more arguments than these to become intercessors– that Christ “always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25), and that the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for the saints”? Are we living in such a relationship with others that we do the work of intercession as a result of being the children of God who are taught by His Spirit? We should take a look at our current circumstances. Do crises which affect us or others in our home, business, country, or elsewhere, seem to be crushing in on us? Are we being pushed out of the presence of God and left with no time for worship? If so, we must put a stop to such distractions and get into such a living relationship with God that our relationship with others is maintained through the work of intercession, where God works His miracles.
Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, becoming so burdened with people and problems that we don’t worship God, and we fail to intercede. If a burden and its resulting pressure come upon us while we are not in an attitude of worship, it will only produce a hardness toward God and despair in our own souls. God continually introduces us to people in whom we have no interest, and unless we are worshiping God the natural tendency is to be heartless toward them. We give them a quick verse of Scripture, like jabbing them with a spear, or leave them with a hurried, uncaring word of counsel before we go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord.
Are our lives in the proper place so that we may participate in the intercession of our Lord and the Holy Spirit?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Knocking Down the Missiles - #8668
It's no secret that we live in a pretty dangerous world. And one of the reasons for that is there's an awful lot of people with an awful lot of missiles. I remember when there was this one superpower other than us that had the power to do a lot of destructive things with missiles. And today there's a proliferation and many countries have nuclear capability. It seems like more are on the way. And out of that came the idea of a new kind of missile, an anti-missile missile. And the idea there is that we can launch a defensive missile to pre-empt and destroy an incoming enemy missile. Well, if we've got to live in that kind of a world, that sounds like a good idea to me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knocking Down The Missiles."
Now, you know, the Kingdom of God could use some anti-missile missile folks. You know why? We need more people who will knock down verbal missiles, because they do a lot of damage to people. Just look around your church. Look around your circle of Christians. Is there too much gossip, backstabbing, talking about people when they're not in the room? Is there too much brokenness between brothers and sisters and misunderstanding? Do you see walls? Do you see hard feelings? Do you see disunity developing?
We need some people who can be part of the answer to that. And you can be if you'll commit to seven little words that can knock down the missiles that destroy the unity and the love of the followers of Jesus. They're actually based on our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 18:15. Get ready for these words. They're powerful, but there aren't many of them. Jesus said, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault..." Did you notice first of all the scope of your complaint: "just between the two of you." Yeah, that's what it says. That could just be one of the most disobeyed commands our Lord ever gave and one of the most damaging disobediences.
We go and talk to everyone but the person we've got the problem with. We would far rather talk about them than to them, and that raises the question of whether we really want a solution or do we just want an audience for our gripes. Now for those seven anti-missile words. When a person comes to you with something negative about another person, get used to saying these words: "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, or talk to her." Every time you do that, you know what you're doing? You're standing up for the Jesus-way and you're standing against Satan's attempts to divide God's children.
The Bible says that "the words of a gossip are like choice morsels" (Proverbs 18:8). We love to hear the dirt, but God does not. He says, "A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends" (Proverbs 16:28), and he said "whoever spreads slander is a fool" (Proverbs 10:18). The mission of someone who loves Jesus is to contain the negative talk - not spread it - and to go direct yourself when you have a problem with another person. You can try to avoid doing it the Biblical way by saying, "Well, they don't listen" or "What good will it do?" Well, really that doesn't matter. Because Jesus says your responsibility is to go to your brother or sister and keep it "just between the two of you." How are you doing on that?
There are way too many missiles being fired by God's children at God's children, and no army can win when they're aiming their weapons at each other can they? The good news is that you can do something about it. You can show people another way to be; actually, it's the Jesus way to be. When a person comes to you with something negative about another person, keep used to saying these words, "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, or talk to her." When you hear something negative about a brother or sister, say those words again, "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, talk to her."
You can actually be the one who knocks down some missiles that otherwise could hurt an awful lot of people.
