Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS NOT FAR FROM US
You will never go where God is not. Envision the next few hours—where will you be? In a school? God indwells the classroom. On the highway? His presence lingers among the traffic. In the operating room, the executive boardroom, the in-laws’ living room? God will be there.
Acts 17:27 says, “He is not far from each of us.” Each of us. God doesn’t play favorites. From the masses on city streets to isolated villagers in valleys and jungles, all people can enjoy God’s presence. But many don’t. They plod through life as if there is no God to love them. As if the only strength is their own. As if the only solution will come from within, not above. They live God-less lives. The psalmist determined, “When I am afraid, I will trust in You, God.” Put your hope in God. You will get through this!
Isaiah 39
Sometime later, King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent messengers with greetings and a gift to Hezekiah. He had heard that Hezekiah had been sick and was now well.
2 Hezekiah received the messengers warmly. He took them on a tour of his royal precincts, proudly showing them all his treasures: silver, gold, spices, expensive oils, all his weapons—everything out on display. There was nothing in his house or kingdom that Hezekiah didn’t show them.
3 Later the prophet Isaiah showed up. He asked Hezekiah, “What were these men up to? What did they say? And where did they come from?”
Hezekiah said, “They came from a long way off, from Babylon.”
4 “And what did they see in your palace?”
“Everything,” said Hezekiah. “I showed them the works, opened all the doors and impressed them with it all.”
5-7 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Now listen to this Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: I have to warn you, the time is coming when everything in this palace, along with everything your ancestors accumulated before you, will be hauled off to Babylon. God says that there will be nothing left. Nothing. And not only your things but your sons. Some of your sons will be taken into exile, ending up as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
8 Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “Good. If God says so, it’s good.” Within himself he was thinking, “But surely nothing bad will happen in my lifetime. I’ll enjoy peace and stability as long as I live.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 3:26–36
They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[a]
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[b] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Footnotes:
John 3:30 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 36.
John 3:34 Greek he
Insight
In John 1, John the Baptist announced that it was another, not himself, who would be the sent one—emphasizing this by saying he wasn’t even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals! (v. 27). Then, the day after baptizing Jesus, John pointed two of his own disciples to Jesus, the Lamb of God. These two (Andrew and, apparently, John the beloved) immediately left John and followed Jesus. These clear examples of John deferring to Jesus display his commitment that “[Jesus] must become greater; I must become less” (3:30).
Photobombing Jesus
He must become greater; I must become less. John 3:30
When my pastor asked our class a difficult question about the life of Jesus, my hand shot up. I had just read the story, so I knew this one. And I wanted the others in the room to know that I knew it too. After all, I’m a Bible teacher. How embarrassing it would be to be stumped in front of them! Now I was embarrassed by my fear of embarrassment. So I lowered my hand. Am I this insecure?
John the Baptist shows a better way. When his disciples complained that people were beginning to leave him and follow Jesus, John said he was glad to hear it. He was merely the messenger. “I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him. . . . He must become greater; I must become less” (3:28–30). John realized the point of his existence was Jesus. He is “the one who comes from heaven” and “is above all” (v. 31)—the divine Son who gave His life for us. He must receive all the glory and fame.
Any attention drawn to ourselves distracts from God. And since He is our only Savior and the only hope for the world, any credit we steal from Him ends up hurting us.
Let’s resolve to step out of the picture—to stop photobombing Jesus. It’s best for Him, for the world, and for us. By: Mike Wittmer
Reflect & Pray
When are you tempted to share the spotlight with Jesus? How can you turn the attention to where it belongs?
Heavenly Father, help us understand that our task is to direct everyone’s attention to Your Son, so that He increasingly fills up the frame. Help us see that we must decrease and He must increase.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
The Habit of Keeping a Clear Conscience
…strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. —Acts 24:16
God’s commands to us are actually given to the life of His Son in us. Consequently, to our human nature in which God’s Son has been formed (see Galatians 4:19), His commands are difficult. But they become divinely easy once we obey.
Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and then continually reminds me of what that standard demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward God or toward what we regard as the highest standard. This explains why conscience is different in different people. If I am in the habit of continually holding God’s standard in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The question is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I can live without any offense toward anyone. I should be living in such perfect harmony with God’s Son that the spirit of my mind is being renewed through every circumstance of life, and that I may be able to quickly “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 ; also see Ephesians 4:23).
God always instructs us down to the last detail. Is my ear sensitive enough to hear even the softest whisper of the Spirit, so that I know what I should do? “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” (Ephesians 4:30). He does not speak with a voice like thunder— His voice is so gentle that it is easy for us to ignore. And the only thing that keeps our conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When you begin to debate, stop immediately. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debating possible once your conscience speaks. Whatever it is— drop it, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 17-18; John 3:19-38
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
How Not to Be a Scary Giant - #8698
Over the years, I've learned a few lessons about how to meet a little child for the first time and how not to. I used to stand there all big and adult and come on real enthusiastic, "Hey, how you doing, Billy?" Well, at that point the child promptly turned his head and disappeared somewhere in his mother's leg.
Have you ever seen that happen? I think I scared him to death! When you're only knee high, and an adult reaches down to you, especially as enthusiastically as I did, it probably looks like Goliath reaching for David.
But I'm getting a little smarter in my old age. Now I sort of squat down or I kneel down; get down where he is and look that little guy in the eye and I talk gently, not real loud. I come on soft instead of strong. (Honest, I can do it.) And believe it or not, I get some smiles and handshakes back from little Billy. I mean, even big folks respond better to that kind of treatment.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How Not to Be a Scary Giant."
I was at a conference some years ago and a young woman asked me how she could get through to her boss with the Good News about Jesus Christ. The hurdle was that because of his sexual lifestyle choices, he was very guarded when the subject of Jesus came up. He hadn't been treated too well by some Christians. And it was further complicated by the fact that this girl is like the picture of innocence. She's the model girl in her youth group, wholesome looking, doesn't even attend a public school or a Christian school. She's being home schooled as a sixteen-year-old girl. I showed her the Good News she has for her boss, and in the process, a little something about herself too. But then, it's good news for all of us who have done like not God's way, and there are so many ways to do that.
Our word for today from the Word of God is from 1 Corinthians 6, beginning at verse 9: "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God?" Oh, that's bad news! Who are those folks? Well, he says, "Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, or homosexual offenders, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God." Now, that's bad news!
Here's the good news: "and that is what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God."
That's a glorious word, "some of you were like this." No one has to be sexually immoral ever again. No one has to be a drunkard, a swindler ever again. "You were washed." The slavery of sin was broken by the cleansing of Christ. Every kind of sin, and it comes in so many different ways. That is good news to deliver, like when I was trying to be friendly to a little child.
But the Good News has to be delivered from across from the person, not above them, making them feel cared about and respected, not condemned. See, most of us don't realize we have to come down to their level, which we really are already there anyway. Not to do what they do, no, but to let them know that this is a sinner who's talking to them; a sinner just as much in need of saving. And I'm just talking to a sinner in need of saving when I say to this girl, "Have you ever been greedy?" She said, "Oh, yeah." I said, "Have you ever said anything bad about anyone, slandered anyone?" "Yeah, well, I guess." "Have you ever let anything be more important than God is?" "Yeah." "Well, see, that's idolatry. We're all on the same list as the sexually immoral." See, often the one that we're trying to reach feels condemned by our presence.
A person tends to back off like a child retreating from that intimidating adult. That's not how they should feel. "I'm a beggar. You're a beggar. I just happen to be a beggar who found bread."
I want to tell you where I found it. I must never forget that I am a sinner, still desperately in need of what Christ did on the cross. I heard a song that said, "Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future." I like that!
When I remember who I am, I'll come in on their level. And maybe they'll be willing to listen to a fellow sinner who's found a Savior, who changes what you were into what you can be. And then I won't be this scary giant.