Max Lucado Daily: Cast Yourself Upon the Grace of Christ
Guilt sucks the life out of our souls. Grace restores it. No one had more reason to feel the burden of guilt than did the apostle Paul. He had orchestrated the deaths of Christians—he was an ancient version of a terrorist.
Paul gave his guilt to Jesus. Period. He surrendered it to Jesus. As a result he could write, “I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.” (Philippians 3:13-14).
What would the apostle say to the guilt-ridden? Simply this: Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy. Trust in his ability to forgive. Cast yourself upon the grace of Christ and Christ alone!
Read more Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World
Ephesians 1
I, Paul, am under God’s plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful believers in Ephesus. I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.
3-6 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.
15-19 That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
20-23 All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 03, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Timothy 4:1–8
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead,r and in view of his appearings and his kingdom, I give you this charge:t 2 Preachu the word;v be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebukew and encouragex—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.y Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.z 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.a 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship,b do the work of an evangelist,c discharge all the duties of your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering,d and the time for my departure is near.e 7 I have fought the good fight,f I have finished the race,g I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for meh the crown of righteousness,i which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that dayj—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Insight
Second Timothy is Paul’s final letter, written from a Roman prison where he was awaiting execution (see 4:6). Taking the total sweep of this chapter, we find three distinct sections in what is regarded as Paul’s last words. In verses 1–5, the apostle challenges and urges his young protégé Timothy to be faithful in carrying out the calling he has received—particularly the ministry of preaching the Scriptures. In verses 6–8, Paul gives his own testimony of service to Jesus and his readiness to see the Savior. The bulk of the remaining verses (vv. 9–18) deals with people who disappointed Paul and how he responded to that disappointment.
What Comes Next?
There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord . . . will award to me on that day.
2 Timothy 4:8
On the night of April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In it, he hints that he believed he might not live long. He said, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. . . . [But] I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” The next day, he was assassinated.
The apostle Paul, shortly before his death, wrote to his protégé Timothy: “I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. . . . Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Timothy 4:6, 8). Paul knew his time on earth was drawing to a close, as did Dr. King. Both men realized lives of incredible significance, yet never lost sight of the true life ahead. Both men welcomed what came next.
Like them, may we “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). By: Remi Oyedele
Reflect & Pray
What is your understanding of this life’s temporary nature? How do you think it plays into the life that comes next?
Heavenly Father, help us to keep our eyes on You and not on the troubles and trials of this life.
Read Life to Come: The Hope of the Christian Faith at discoveryseries.org/q1205.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 03, 2020
“If You Had Known!”
If you had known…in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. —Luke 19:42
Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and the city was stirred to its very foundations, but a strange god was there– the pride of the Pharisees. It was a god that seemed religious and upright, but Jesus compared it to “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27).
What is it that blinds you to the peace of God “in this your day”? Do you have a strange god– not a disgusting monster but perhaps an unholy nature that controls your life? More than once God has brought me face to face with a strange god in my life, and I knew that I should have given it up, but I didn’t do it. I got through the crisis “by the skin of my teeth,” only to find myself still under the control of that strange god. I am blind to the very things that make for my own peace. It is a shocking thing that we can be in the exact place where the Spirit of God should be having His completely unhindered way with us, and yet we only make matters worse, increasing our blame in God’s eyes.
“If you had known….” God’s words here cut directly to the heart, with the tears of Jesus behind them. These words imply responsibility for our own faults. God holds us accountable for what we refuse to see or are unable to see because of our sin. And “now they are hidden from your eyes” because you have never completely yielded your nature to Him. Oh, the deep, unending sadness for what might have been! God never again opens the doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but He reminds us that there are doors which we have shut– doors which had no need to be shut. Never be afraid when God brings back your past. Let your memory have its way with you. It is a minister of God bringing its rebuke and sorrow to you. God will turn what might have been into a wonderful lesson of growth for the future.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 19-21; Luke 7:31-50
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 03, 2020
The Unpredictable Weather, The Unmoving Lighthouse - #8670
I've always been fascinated with lighthouses. I actually saw this feature on the evening news about a photographer who decided he loves the seagull perspective on lighthouses. He's got this little customized aircraft, he flies over Maine's many picturesque lighthouses, shooting unusual aerial photos of them. They're beautiful; they're even inspiring. He's seen them and photographed them in all kinds of settings: sunshine, clouds, storms, high tide, and low tide. And here's how he summarized what he's seen: "The lighthouse is always there, but everything else is changing."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Unpredictable Weather, The Unmoving Lighthouse."
I used to ask groups of teenagers to take four 3x5 cards and write the four most important things in their lives on those four cards. When they finished, I said, "OK, a disaster has just come into your life and you're going to lose one of the most important things in your life; except you're going to choose which one. Drop one of those cards." That's not easy, but after some thought, they dropped one.
I repeated that request another time, and again - this time with a little more resistance - they dropped one of the most important things in their life. Then, when they had only two cards, I said, "You can keep one, but only one. You're going to lose everything but the most important thing in your life. Drop one more card." Well, let me tell you, that was pretty tough.
But when everyone was finally down to just one card, I said, "Okay, you're holding a card that represents that most important thing in your life. I've got one question I want you to answer about it, is it something you can lose?" If what, or who, matters most to us is something we can lose, we can never be secure; we can never be totally at peace.
We need, in essence, a lighthouse - something we can totally depend on when everything else is changing. Something, actually someone who is - as the photographer said about those lighthouses - "always there." If you've already lost some of the cards that mattered most to you in your life, and I sure have, then you know how much we need something that's unloseable, something unmoving that will stand the unpredictable weather because the weather in our world, even in our lives, has become more and more unpredictable.
The lighthouse that never moves is beautifully described in our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." So as relationships come and go, as jobs and houses and possessions come and go, as our health changes, our feelings change, our family changes, Jesus Christ remains our personal lighthouse that never moves, never changes...if we know Him.
In the verses preceding this statement, God makes this promise, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Then it says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." From the nursery to the nursing home to the funeral home, a Savior, a friend you can totally, totally trust and you'll never, never lose Him. Jesus secured the possibility of this relationship when He died on the cross to pay that death penalty we all owe for the sinning we've done. This unloseable relationship becomes yours when you grab Jesus in total trust to remove the sin-wall between you and God forever.
As the storm clouds darken and the surf becomes more turbulent, aren't you ready for this Savior-security? If you want to get started in this relationship with Jesus, this unloseable love, would you tell Him that right now, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You died for me. You rose from the dead to walk into my life. I'm yours, Jesus, from this day on."
Let me encourage you to get to our website. It's called ANewStory.com. Because your new story can begin there with the information that will help you be sure you belong to Him.
It's the season of uncertain weather, but Jesus is that lighthouse that will be "always there" for you. You grab His hand and He will never let go.
