Max Lucado Daily: GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISE
All of a sudden you’re cleaning out your desk. The voices of doubt and fear raise their volume. “How will I pay the bills?” you think. “Who’s going to hire me?” Do you think you’ve lost it all? Determine not to make this mistake. You haven’t lost it all. Romans 11:29 promises God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded. What do you have that you cannot lose?
Here’s what you tell yourself: “I’m still God’s child. My life is more than this life. These days are a vapor, a passing breeze. This will eventually pass. God will make something good of this. I will work hard, stay faithful, and trust Him no matter what.”
Choose to heed the call of God on your life. You are God’s child. Your life is more than this life, more than this broken heart, more than this difficult time. God won’t break a promise. You will get through this!
Isaiah 35
Wilderness and desert will sing joyously,
the badlands will celebrate and flower—
Like the crocus in spring, bursting into blossom,
a symphony of song and color.
Mountain glories of Lebanon—a gift.
Awesome Carmel, stunning Sharon—gifts.
God’s resplendent glory, fully on display.
God awesome, God majestic.
3-4 Energize the limp hands,
strengthen the rubbery knees.
Tell fearful souls,
“Courage! Take heart!
God is here, right here,
on his way to put things right
And redress all wrongs.
He’s on his way! He’ll save you!”
5-7 Blind eyes will be opened,
deaf ears unstopped,
Lame men and women will leap like deer,
the voiceless break into song.
Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness,
streams flow in the desert.
Hot sands will become a cool oasis,
thirsty ground a splashing fountain.
Even lowly jackals will have water to drink,
and barren grasslands flourish richly.
8-10 There will be a highway
called the Holy Road.
No one rude or rebellious
is permitted on this road.
It’s for God’s people exclusively—
impossible to get lost on this road.
Not even fools can get lost on it.
No lions on this road,
no dangerous wild animals—
Nothing and no one dangerous or threatening.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
The people God has ransomed
will come back on this road.
They’ll sing as they make their way home to Zion,
unfading halos of joy encircling their heads,
Welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness
as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, May 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 8:26–34
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Footnotes:
Romans 8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who
Insight
The terminology Paul uses in Romans 8:31–35 are legal terms used in court. Words such as charge, justify, and condemn fit well into the passage where Paul discusses legalities, giving readers the image of a heavenly courtroom. Additionally, Paul explains that no one condemns believers in Christ (building on his statement in verse 1) because Jesus died for them and is now interceding on their behalf (v. 34). The word interceding has the idea of someone approaching a ruler in court on behalf of someone else, making petitions for them. It’s interesting to note that both Christ and the Holy Spirit do this for us (vv. 26–29, 34). Jesus, the one who could condemn believers, instead died and is now seated at the right hand of God on our behalf.
Go-Between Prayer
The Spirit intercedes for God’s people. Romans 8:27
Late one Saturday afternoon, my family and I stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. As the waiter set crispy fries and thick burgers on our table, my husband glanced up and asked his name. Then he said, “We pray as a family before we eat. Is there something we can pray for you today?” Allen, whose name we now knew, looked at us with a mixture of surprise and anxiety. A short silence followed before he told us that he was sleeping on his friend’s couch each night, his car had just quit working, and he was broke.
As my husband quietly asked God to provide for Allen and show him His love, I thought about how our go-between prayer was similar to what happens when the Holy Spirit takes up our cause and connects us with God. In our moments of greatest need—when we realize we’re no match to handle life on our own, when we don’t know what to say to God, “The Spirit intercedes for God’s people” (Romans 8:27). What the Spirit says is a mystery, but we’re assured that it always fits with God’s will for our lives.
The next time you pray for God’s guidance, provision, and protection in someone else’s life, let that act of kindness remind you that your spiritual needs are also being lifted to God who knows your name and cares about your problems. By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
Is there anyone you can pray for today? How might you respond to temptation differently if you knew that the Holy Spirit was praying for you during the struggle?
Jesus, I thank You that temptation has no power to separate me from You. Please give me victory today through the power of Your resurrection from the dead.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 07, 2020
Building For Eternity
Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it… —Luke 14:28
Our Lord was not referring here to a cost which we have to count, but to a cost which He has already counted. The cost was those thirty years in Nazareth, those three years of popularity, scandal, and hatred, the unfathomable agony He experienced in Gethsemane, and the assault upon Him at Calvary— the central point upon which all of time and eternity turn. Jesus Christ has counted the cost. In the final analysis, people are not going to laugh at Him and say, “This man began to build and was not able to finish” (Luke 14:30).
The conditions of discipleship given to us by our Lord in verses 26, 27, and 33 mean that the men and women He is going to use in His mighty building enterprises are those in whom He has done everything. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple ” (Luke 14:26). This verse teaches us that the only men and women our Lord will use in His building enterprises are those who love Him personally, passionately, and with great devotion— those who have a love for Him that goes far beyond any of the closest relationships on earth. The conditions are strict, but they are glorious.
All that we build is going to be inspected by God. When God inspects us with His searching and refining fire, will He detect that we have built enterprises of our own on the foundation of Jesus? (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-15). We are living in a time of tremendous enterprises, a time when we are trying to work for God, and that is where the trap is. Profoundly speaking, we can never work for God. Jesus, as the Master Builder, takes us over so that He may direct and control us completely for His enterprises and His building plans; and no one has any right to demand where he will be put to work.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy. Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 1-3; Luke 24:1-35
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, May 07, 2020
Leftovers - #8694
When teenage boys come in the door from school, they have one thing on their mind, "What's for dinner?" Of course, they've been building up to this moment since shortly after lunch that day. Certain answers will, of course, make them happier than others. For one, I dreaded hearing my mother say, "We're having a casserole." I'm not sure why, but casseroles just didn't do it for me. But for our boys, and for many boys and girls of all ages, all over the world, there is an answer that no one wants to hear when they ask, "What's for dinner?" Answer: "Leftovers."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Leftovers."
It's true, no one gets very excited about leftovers...including God. Unfortunately, that's what many of us give Him.
Listen to our word for today from the Word of God in Numbers 18:29. Even though it was written to God's ancient people about their tabernacle sacrifices, the principle of what God expects from His children has never changed. God says, "You must present as the Lord's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you." Now, I'm sure the temptation was to give God an animal that wasn't worth too much and to keep the best for yourself. You know, the unblemished animal. And listen, that was the one you could get the highest price for. And that was the one that perhaps would breed other animals. But, see, doing that was the big mistake. They tried to make their decision back then that way, and we try it now.
In the Book of Malachi, just before God basically stops sending His messengers to His people for 400 years, we find them wondering why things aren't going well in their relationship with God. He says, "When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? ... Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar!" That's strong stuff He's saying. He's going, "Stop going to church. Shut the doors. Give up the ceremonies. I am not pleased with you, and I will accept no offerings from your hands."
Obviously, God is not interested in your leftovers. He's interested in "the best and holiest part of everything" He's given to you. You've probably got a very busy life. Is the Lord getting prime time in your schedule, or what you have left over? Does He get you when you can "squeeze Him in" or is your time with Him and your time for Him non-negotiable? Is the Lord getting the ragged leftovers of your energy? Is most of your energy being consumed on your agenda instead of His? Jesus gave us a priority check that it would be good to consult each new day: "Seek first the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33). Are you doing that? Or honestly are you seeking first your own kingdom?
God tends to get marginalized in our full, busy life - pushed to the edge, pushed out of the center. Like His Old Testament people, we try to meet our responsibility to Him by surrendering to Him things that really aren't a sacrifice, but still hanging onto the really good stuff for ourselves. "God, here's what doesn't matter too much to me anyway. I'm just going to hang onto what really does."
God's not interested in your leftovers. And if that's what He's been getting, this would be a great time to turn that around. Why? Because God gave His holiest and His best for you. He gave His one and only Son. He deserves more than your leftovers.