Max Lucado Daily: GOD HAS A HIGHER PURPOSE
No moment, event, or detail falls outside of God’s supervision. God is the one who “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). He isn’t making up this plan as he goes along. Daniel 5:21 says, “The most High God rules the kingdom of men, and sets over it whom he will.”
So if God is in charge, why does he permit challenges to come our way? Wouldn’t an almighty God prevent them? Not if they serve his higher purpose! The ultimate example is the death of Christ on the cross. Everyone thought the life of Jesus was over. Jesus was dead and buried, but God raised him from the dead. God took the crucifixion of Friday and turned it into the celebration of Sunday. Can he not do a reversal for you?
Isaiah 19
A Message concerning Egypt:
Watch this! God riding on a fast-moving cloud,
moving in on Egypt!
The god-idols of Egypt shudder and shake,
Egyptians paralyzed by panic.
2-4 God says, “I’ll make Egyptian fight Egyptian,
brother fight brother, neighbor fight neighbor,
City fight city, kingdom fight kingdom—
anarchy and chaos and killing!
I’ll knock the wind out of the Egyptians.
They won’t know coming from going.
They’ll go to their god-idols for answers;
they’ll conjure ghosts and hold séances, desperate for answers.
But I’ll turn the Egyptians
over to a tyrant most cruel.
I’ll put them under the rule of a mean, merciless king.”
Decree of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
5-10 The River Nile will dry up,
the riverbed baked dry in the sun.
The canals will become stagnant and stink,
every stream touching the Nile dry up.
River vegetation will rot away
the banks of the Nile-baked clay,
The riverbed hard and smooth,
river grasses dried up and gone with the wind.
Fishermen will complain
that the fishing’s been ruined.
Textile workers will be out of work, all weavers
and workers in linen and cotton and wool
Dispirited, depressed in their forced idleness—
everyone who works for a living, jobless.
11-15 The princes of Zoan are fools,
the advisors of Pharaoh stupid.
How could any of you dare tell Pharaoh,
“Trust me: I’m wise. I know what’s going on.
Why, I’m descended from the old wisdom of Egypt”?
There’s not a wise man or woman left in the country.
If there were, one of them would tell you
what God-of-the-Angel-Armies has in mind for Egypt.
As it is, the princes of Zoan are all fools
and the princes of Memphis, dunces.
The honored pillars of your society
have led Egypt into detours and dead ends.
God has scrambled their brains,
Egypt’s become a falling-down-in-his-own-vomit drunk.
Egypt’s hopeless, past helping,
a senile, doddering old fool.
16-17 On that Day, Egyptians will be like hysterical schoolgirls, screaming at the first hint of action from God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Little Judah will strike terror in Egyptians! Say “Judah” to an Egyptian and see panic. The word triggers fear of the God-of-the-Angel-Armies’ plan against Egypt.
18 On that Day, more than one city in Egypt will learn to speak the language of faith and promise to follow God-of-the-Angel-Armies. One of these cities will be honored with the title “City of the Sun.”
19-22 On that Day, there will be a place of worship to God in the center of Egypt and a monument to God at its border. It will show how the God-of-the-Angel-Armies has helped the Egyptians. When they cry out in prayer to God because of oppressors, he’ll send them help, a savior who will keep them safe and take care of them. God will openly show himself to the Egyptians and they’ll get to know him on that Day. They’ll worship him seriously with sacrifices and burnt offerings. They’ll make vows and keep them. God will wound Egypt, first hit and then heal. Egypt will come back to God, and God will listen to their prayers and heal them, heal them from head to toe.
23 On that Day, there will be a highway all the way from Egypt to Assyria: Assyrians will have free range in Egypt and Egyptians in Assyria. No longer rivals, they’ll worship together, Egyptians and Assyrians!
24-25 On that Day, Israel will take its place alongside Egypt and Assyria, sharing the blessing from the center. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who blessed Israel, will generously bless them all: “Blessed be Egypt, my people! . . . Blessed be Assyria, work of my hands! . . . Blessed be Israel, my heritage!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Proverbs 16:20–24
Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,a x
and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.y
21 The wise in heart are called discerning,
and gracious words promote instruction.b z
22 Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent,a
but folly brings punishment to fools.
23 The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent,b
and their lips promote instruction.c c
24 Gracious words are a honeycomb,d
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Insight
In Proverbs 16 we find two examples of Hebrew poetry. In verse 20, we see “synonymous parallelism,” in which the same idea is repeated using slightly different words. The key connector for the comparison is the word and. Verse 22 is an example of “antithetical parallelism,” a device that uses opposite ideas set in terms of contrast. Here the key connector for the contrast is the word but. See if you can find other examples of these poetic devices in Proverbs 16.
Healing Words
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
A recent study has shown that encouraging words from a health-care provider can help patients recuperate faster from their ailments. A simple experiment exposed volunteer study participants to a skin allergen to make them itch and then compared the reactions between those who received assurance from their physician and those who didn’t. Patients who received encouragement from their doctors had less discomfort and itching than their counterparts.
The writer of Proverbs knew how important encouraging words are. “Gracious words” bring “healing to the bones,” he wrote (Proverbs 16:24). The positive effect of words isn’t limited to our health: when we heed the wisdom of instruction, we’re also more likely to prosper in our efforts (v. 20). So too encouragement buoys us for the challenges we face now and may encounter in the future.
We may not yet fully understand why or even how much wisdom and encouragement bring strength and healing to our daily lives. Yet the cheers and guidance of our parents, coaches, and colleagues seem to help us endure difficulty and steer us toward success. Similarly, the Bible brings us encouragement when we face trials, equipping us to bear up under even the most unthinkable circumstances. Help us, God, to be strengthened by Your wisdom and to, in turn, offer the healing and hope of “gracious words” to those You’ve placed in our lives. By: Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
Who has spoken “gracious words” into your life? Why is it vital for you to share words of encouragement with others?
Dear Father, thank You for Your words of healing and hope.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Inner Invincibility
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… —Matthew 11:29
“Whom the Lord loves He chastens…” (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.
“…to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.
“…the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.
If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst of disturbance. Notes on Isaiah, 1376 R
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 25-26; Luke 12:32-59
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
The Secret Plan for Keeping People Out of Heaven - #8677
Magicians are a sneaky bunch. Many of them might better be called illusionists. Oh, l know it looks like they made something disappear or turned into something else. But there's this little secret that's behind a lot of those tricks. It's called misdirection. See, when magicians learn to keep talking - talking fast, mostly. Like me. They call it patter. Purpose: to distract unsuspecting folks like me to look over there while the real trick is being done over here. Just get me looking in a different direction and you can probably fool me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Secret Plan for Keeping People Out of Heaven."
There's someone who's the master of misdirection. He just happens to be the master deceiver of the universe. Yes, the devil. Whose goal is simple - keeping people out of God's heaven, including you and me. He knows his plan has to be very clever. And it is. We'd never know what it was if it weren't for the divine intel in the Word of God. We're about to blow his cover right now, and possibly expose what he's trying to do in the heart of someone who's listening right now - maybe even you.
His secret plan for keeping people out of heaven is revealed in 2 Corinthians 4, beginning with verse 4. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "The god of this age (that's small "g" god) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Here's the life-saving truth: if a person ever really gets a clear look at who Jesus really is and what He can do, the devil's probably lost them. If you really see how awesome, how deep, how unloseable His love for you is, you won't want to go much longer without Him in your life. And the place where your heart-eyes see that love is when you look at that bloody cross where God's Son is dying on a tree He made, crucified by men He created. For you, taking all the hell for all your sin so you'd never have to.
That love stole my heart away - as it has millions of others. And when you see that Jesus crushed death three days later when He blasted out of His grave, you realize He has all the power you will ever need to fix what you could never fix and change what you could never change.
So the enemy of your soul says, "Anything but Jesus. I've got to get them looking at something other than Jesus. Anything." That's how he can blind you to what the Bible calls "the glory of Christ." If he can keep you blinded until your last breath, he'll win. You'll be lost forever.
So here's the question - what's between you and Jesus, blinding you to His love and His power? Christians who are hypocrites? The ways Christians or religion have hurt you? Or maybe he's got you pinning your hopes on a religion that's about Jesus - but you're missing that your eternity depends on a relationship with Jesus!
Maybe there's a guy, or a girl, or your family standing between you and Jesus. Or something you don't want to give up. Maybe a tragedy in your life that you blame God for. Or your intellectual pride. All I know is, the enemy of your soul is trying to use someone or something to keep you from seeing Jesus. To misdirect your attention to something that can never satisfy your soul, and certainly never get you to heaven.
But the issue of your eternity is all about one thing - one Person. It's all about Jesus. Just Jesus. The One who loved you enough to die for you. The one who's powerful enough to walk out of His grave, who's waiting to walk into your life right now. And loves you as you have never been loved. And He wants to change your eternal destination from hell to heaven. Don't you want this? It's Jesus! That's all it's about.
You ready to begin a relationship with the One who loves you most? Tell Him that right where you are. And listen, go to our website as soon as possible. It will help you be sure you belong to Him. That's ANewStory.com.
If you miss Jesus, you miss heaven. He's close today, arms wide open. Please - don't miss Him!
