Max Lucado Daily: WHEN YOU SEE GOD AT WORK
When God responds to our specific prayer in specific ways, our faith grows. The book of Genesis relates the wonderful prayer of Abraham’s servant. He was sent to find a wife for Abraham’s son.
How does a servant select a wife for someone else? This servant prayed about it. “O Lord God of my master, Abraham.” I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug of water.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink…let her be the one you have selected…”
The servant envisioned an exact dialog, and then he stepped forth in faith. Scripture says, “Before he had finished speaking, Rebekah appeared (Genesis 24:15). The servant offered a specific prayer and had an answered prayer. Consequently, he saw God at work. May you and I do the same!
Isaiah 28
Doom to the pretentious drunks of Ephraim,
shabby and washed out and seedy—
Tipsy, sloppy-fat, beer-bellied parodies
of a proud and handsome past.
Watch closely: God has someone picked out,
someone tough and strong to flatten them.
Like a hailstorm, like a hurricane, like a flash flood,
one-handed he’ll throw them to the ground.
Samaria, the party hat on Israel’s head,
will be knocked off with one blow.
It will disappear quicker than
a piece of meat tossed to a dog.
5-6 At that time, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be
the beautiful crown on the head of what’s left of his people:
Energy and insights of justice to those who guide and decide,
strength and prowess to those who guard and protect.
7-8 These also, the priest and prophet, stagger from drink,
weaving, falling-down drunks,
Besotted with wine and whiskey,
can’t see straight, can’t talk sense.
Every table is covered with vomit.
They live in vomit.
9-10 “Is that so? And who do you think you are to teach us?
Who are you to lord it over us?
We’re not babies in diapers
to be talked down to by such as you—
‘Da, da, da, da,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
That’s a good little girl,
that’s a good little boy.’”
11-12 But that’s exactly how you will be addressed.
God will speak to this people
In baby talk, one syllable at a time—
and he’ll do it through foreign oppressors.
He said before, “This is the time and place to rest,
to give rest to the weary.
This is the place to lay down your burden.”
But they won’t listen.
13 So God will start over with the simple basics
and address them in baby talk, one syllable at a time—
“Da, da, da, da,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
That’s a good little girl,
that’s a good little boy.”
And like toddlers, they will get up and fall down,
get bruised and confused and lost.
14-15 Now listen to God’s Message, you scoffers,
you who rule this people in Jerusalem.
You say, “We’ve taken out good life insurance.
We’ve hedged all our bets, covered all our bases.
No disaster can touch us. We’ve thought of everything.
We’re advised by the experts. We’re set.”
16-17 But the Master, God, has something to say to this:
“Watch closely. I’m laying a foundation in Zion,
a solid granite foundation, squared and true.
And this is the meaning of the stone:
a trusting life won’t topple.
I’ll make justice the measuring stick
and righteousness the plumb line for the building.
A hailstorm will knock down the shantytown of lies,
and a flash flood will wash out the rubble.
18-22 “Then you’ll see that your precious life insurance policy
wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.
Your careful precautions against death
were a pack of illusions and lies.
When the disaster happens,
you’ll be crushed by it.
Every time disaster comes, you’ll be in on it—
disaster in the morning, disaster at night.”
Every report of disaster
will send you cowering in terror.
There will be no place where you can rest,
nothing to hide under.
God will rise to full stature,
raging as he did long ago on Mount Perazim
And in the valley of Gibeon against the Philistines.
But this time it’s against you.
Hard to believe, but true.
Not what you’d expect, but it’s coming.
Sober up, friends, and don’t scoff.
Scoffing will just make it worse.
I’ve heard the orders issued for destruction, orders from
God-of-the-Angel-Armies—ending up in an international disaster.
23-26 Listen to me now.
Give me your closest attention.
Do farmers plow and plow and do nothing but plow?
Or harrow and harrow and do nothing but harrow?
After they’ve prepared the ground, don’t they plant?
Don’t they scatter dill and spread cumin,
Plant wheat and barley in the fields
and raspberries along the borders?
They know exactly what to do and when to do it.
Their God is their teacher.
27-29 And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices,
the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.
On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly.
The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.
He’s learned it all from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who knows everything about when and how and where.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Isaiah 43:1–7
Israel’s Only Savior
43 But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who createdv you, Jacob,
he who formedw you, Israel:x
“Do not fear, for I have redeemedy you;
I have summoned you by name;z you are mine.a
2 When you pass through the waters,b
I will be with you;c
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,d
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.e
3 For I am the Lord your God,f
the Holy Oneg of Israel, your Savior;h
I give Egypti for your ransom,
Cusha j and Sebak in your stead.l
4 Since you are precious and honoredm in my sight,
and because I loven you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid,o for I am with you;p
I will bring your childrenq from the east
and gatherr you from the west.s
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south,t ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughtersu from the ends of the earthv—
7 everyone who is called by my name,w
whom I createdx for my glory,y
whom I formed and made.z”
Insight
Against the backdrop of the present Assyrian invasion (Isaiah 10:3–6) and the future Babylonian destruction and exile (39:6–7), God assured the people of Judah saying, “Do not fear!” (43:1). God reminded them that they were His chosen people and had a special personal relationship with Him: “I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (v. 1). God also gave them many assurances of His love and protection: He revealed Himself as their Creator, Redeemer, Owner, and Protector (vv. 1–4) and declared, “For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (v. 3). God’s people didn’t need to fear the Assyrians or the Babylonians because they were greatly loved by God (v. 4). But it’d be foolish for them to depend on anything other than God for deliverance (31:1). Isaiah called them to repent and to “turn to the Lord . . . for he will freely pardon” (55:7).
Through the Waters
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. Isaiah 43:2
The movie The Free State of Jones tells the US Civil War story of Newton Knight and some Confederate deserters and slaves who aided the Union Army and then resisted slaveholders after the war. Many herald Knight as the hero, but two slaves first saved his life after his desertion. They carried him deep into a secluded swampland and tended a leg wound he suffered while fleeing Confederate forces. If they’d abandoned him, he would have died.
The people of Judah were wounded and desperate, facing enemies and feeling helpless. Israel had been overtaken by Assyria, and Isaiah prophesied that one day they (Judah) would also be overcome by an enemy—Babylonia. Judah needed a God who would help, who would rescue and not forsake them. Imagine, then, the surging hope when the people heard God’s assurance: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (Isaiah 43:5). Whatever calamity they faced or trouble they would endure, He would be with them. He would “pass through the waters” with them, leading them to safety (v. 2). He would “walk through the fire” with them, helping them through the scorching flames (v. 2).
Throughout Scripture, God promises to be with His people, to care for us, guide us, and never abandon us—whether in life or death. Even when you find yourself in difficult places, God is with you. He’ll help you pass through the waters. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
What deep waters are you facing? How does God’s promise to pass through them with you strengthen your heart today?
God, the water is deep, and I don’t see how I’m going to make it through. Thank You for promising to be with me and to carry me through!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 27, 2020
What Do You Want?
Do you seek great things for yourself? —Jeremiah 45:5
Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts— He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.
If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means. You have become a Christian based on your own terms. You protest, saying, “I asked God for the Holy Spirit, but He didn’t give me the rest and the peace I expected.” And instantly God puts His finger on the reason– you are not seeking the Lord at all; you are seeking something for yourself. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7). Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether. “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why should you ask? So that you may get to know Him.
Are you seeking great things for yourself? Have you said, “Oh, Lord, completely fill me with your Holy Spirit”? If God does not, it is because you are not totally surrendered to Him; there is something you still refuse to do. Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? God always ignores your present level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness. He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He’s continually working out His ultimate perfection for you— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 1-2; Luke 19:28-48
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 27, 2020
The Same Old Baggage - #868
When your airplane flight is over, it's not really over. See, there's that closing chapter of a trip that you get to spend at baggage claim. At my home airport they have these big carousels where suitcases are dumped out and where they circle until their owners claim them. Now, my bags seem to have a knack for waiting until almost all the other bags are out, for some reason. So I just keep watching those suitcases of all shapes and sizes and conditions appear, and waiting for one I like - no, no, no. I mean, one I recognize. But there always seem to be some phantom bags there. Have you noticed that? They just keep circling and circling and circling. And since the luggage carousel is all I really have to look at, the show gets pretty boring! Yep, there goes that baggage again!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Same Old Baggage."
Probably the most curious question Jesus ever asked is in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in John 5:3-9. There was a pool where people went out to get their diseases healed and it says, "Here there was a great number of people and they used to lie there, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, and there was one who had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time he asked him, 'Do you want to get well?' 'Well sir,' the invalid replied, 'I have no one to help me to get into the pool when the water is stirred.'" That's when the healing time was. "While I'm trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.' Then Jesus said, 'Get up, pick up your mat and walk.' At once the man was cured, picked up his mat and he walked."
Now, this man has been a victim of paralysis for 38 years and Jesus says, "Do you want to get well?" Why? Well, let's stop for a moment and consider the condition that you're in, maybe. Something that fits the Biblical description that's given here, he had been "In this condition for a long time." Maybe it's the pain or the memory of some past hurt or abuse or past betrayal and it's haunted you; it's even held you back for a long time.
Or, it could be that you've carried feelings of worthlessness for a long time, and they've caused you to make some very hurtful choices. Maybe you've got this enslaving sin that's held you down for a long time, but like this man at the healing pool, you've been in some way emotionally, or spiritually, or relationally paralyzed for a long time.
And then along comes Jesus with this strange question - the one that comes before the healing, "Do you want to get well?" Or to put it in airport terms, "Are you tired of watching the same old baggage go by again and again?" In a way, those memories and those resentments, those no good feelings, those sins, they're the baggage in your life and they just keep replaying and replaying and causing more frustration and more damage.
Why does Jesus ask us if we want to get well? Because sometimes we're afraid to change. We've gotten used to playing the victim role, the loser role. We've settled into an identity that revolves around that same old baggage. Notice the man didn't just say "Yes." He responded with a nobody cares complaint. He's gotten used to being the guy with the problem. He was stuck in his victim identity, but Jesus acts miraculously and that man walks away carrying what had been carrying him for years.
Now, that's what He wants to do for you, and He's got the power to do it. He wants to help you put the pain and paralysis of the past once and for all behind you. To take away the victim card and replace it with one that says, "More than conquerors through Him who loved us." He wants to help you make today the day that you wrap up the past and put it in a book called Volume 1, and leave it on the shelf forever.
Today is the beginning of Volume 2, one in which you release the hurt through forgiving the hurter, you release the sin through aggressive repentance, and you release the worthless feelings by living like the masterpiece God created you to be. That all happens when you come to the cross where Jesus died for your sin and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You died to free me from all of this."
Look, our website is a place where many people have found what they needed to begin this relationship. I think you could too. It's ANewStory.com.
So, do you want to get well? Then the next thing is the miracle.
