Max Lucado Daily: Do it God’s Way
In the game of golf, logic says, “Don’t go for the green.” Golf 101 says, “Don’t go for the green.” But I say, “Give me my driver, I’m going for the green!” Golf reveals a lot about a person. I don’t need advice—whack! I can handle this myself—clang!
Can you relate? We want to do things our way. Forget the easy way and forget the best way. Forget God’s way. Too much stubbornness. Too much independence. Too much self-reliance. All I needed to do was apologize, but I had to argue. All I needed to do was listen, but I had to open my big mouth. All I needed to do was be patient, but I had to take control. All I had to do was give it to God, but I tried to fix it myself.
Scripture says, “Do it God’s way.” Experience says, “Do it God’s way.” And every so often, we do! We might even make the green.
From Traveling Light
Isaiah 57
Meanwhile, right-living people die
and no one gives them a thought.
God-fearing people are carted off
and no one even notices.
The right-living people are out of their misery,
they’re finally at rest.
They lived well and with dignity
and now they’re finally at peace.
3-10 “But you, children of a witch, come here!
Sons of a slut, daughters of a whore.
What business do you have taunting,
sneering, and sticking out your tongue?
Do you have any idea what wretches you’ve turned out to be?
A race of rebels, a generation of liars.
You satisfy your lust any place you find some shade
and fornicate at whim.
You kill your children at any convenient spot—
any cave or crevasse will do.
You take stones from the creek
and set up your sex-and-religion shrines.
You’ve chosen your fate.
Your worship will be your doom.
You’ve climbed a high mountain
to practice your foul sex-and-death religion.
Behind closed doors
you assemble your precious gods and goddesses.
Deserting me, you’ve gone all out, stripped down
and made your bed your place of worship.
You’ve climbed into bed with the ‘sacred’ whores
and loved every minute of it,
adoring every curve of their naked bodies.
You anoint your king-god with ointments
and lavish perfumes on yourselves.
You send scouts to search out the latest in religion,
send them all the way to hell and back.
You wear yourselves out trying the new and the different,
and never see what a waste it all is.
You’ve always found strength for the latest fad,
never got tired of trying new religions.
11-13 “Who talked you into the pursuit of this nonsense,
leaving me high and dry,
forgetting you ever knew me?
Because I don’t yell and make a scene
do you think I don’t exist?
I’ll go over, detail by detail, all your ‘righteous’ attempts at religion,
and expose the absurdity of it all.
Go ahead, cry for help to your collection of no-gods:
A good wind will blow them away.
They’re smoke, nothing but smoke.
“But anyone who runs to me for help
will inherit the land,
will end up owning my holy mountain!”
14 Someone says: “Build, build! Make a road!
Clear the way, remove the rocks
from the road my people will travel.”
15-21 A Message from the high and towering God,
who lives in Eternity,
whose name is Holy:
“I live in the high and holy places,
but also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed,
And what I do is put new spirit in them,
get them up and on their feet again.
For I’m not going to haul people into court endlessly,
I’m not going to be angry forever.
Otherwise, people would lose heart.
These souls I created would tire out and give up.
I was angry, good and angry, because of Israel’s sins.
I struck him hard and turned away in anger,
while he kept at his stubborn, willful ways.
When I looked again and saw what he was doing,
I decided to heal him, lead him, and comfort him,
creating a new language of praise for the mourners.
Peace to the far-off, peace to the near-at-hand,” says God—
“and yes, I will heal them.
But the wicked are storm-battered seas
that can’t quiet down.
The waves stir up garbage and mud.
There’s no peace,” God says, “for the wicked.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, June 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 10:30–37
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Footnotes:
Luke 10:35 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
Insight
The question-and-answer session in Luke 10:25–37 was initiated by an “expert in the law” (vv. 25, 37). In some translations this term is rendered lawyer and comes from the Greek word nomikos (“pertaining to legal matters”). The focus was the law of Moses. The law experts were also known as “scribes” or “teachers of the law”; they occupied positions of authority (Matthew 23:2) and were thereby respected. These religious scholars, the theologians of that day, were the preservers, interpreters, and judges in matters of the law. Early in Luke’s gospel, when Jesus was twelve years old, He became separated from His parents for three days. They found Him in the temple courts sitting among the teachers, interacting with them and confounding these experts (Luke 2:46). Later in Jesus’ life those of this guild were ripe for His rebuke (11:45–54).
In Need of Rescue
A Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. Luke 10:33
A teenager named Aldi was working alone on a fishing hut anchored about 125 kilometers (about 78 miles) off Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island when heavy winds knocked the hut off its mooring and sent it out to sea. For forty-nine days, Aldi drifted in the ocean. Every time he spotted a ship, he turned on his lamp to try and get the sailors’ attention, only to be disappointed. About ten ships passed the malnourished teen before he was rescued.
Jesus told a parable to an “expert in the law” (Luke 10:25) about someone who needed to be rescued. Two men—a priest and a Levite—saw an injured man as they were traveling. But rather than help him, both “passed by on the other side” (vv. 31–32). We aren’t told why. Both were religious men and would have been familiar with God’s law to love their neighbor (Leviticus 19:17–18). They may have thought it was too dangerous. Or perhaps they didn’t want to break Jewish laws about touching dead bodies, making them ceremonially unclean and unable to serve in the temple. In contrast, a Samaritan—who was despised by the Jews—acted nobly. He saw the man in need and selflessly took care of him.
Jesus wrapped up His teaching with the command that His followers should “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). May God give us the willingness to risk reaching out in love to help others. By: Poh Fang Chia
Reflect & Pray
Who has Jesus put in your path that needs your help? How can you put your love into action today?
God, open my eyes to the needs around me and give me Your heart of compassion for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 07, 2020
The Greatest Source of Power
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do… —John 14:13
Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point— the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my life? If the central point, or the most powerful influence, of my life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of my life will bear fruit for Him.
However, I must take the time to realize what this central point of power is. Am I willing to give one minute out of every hour to concentrate on it? “If you abide in Me…”— that is, if you continue to act, and think, and work from that central point— “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Am I abiding? Am I taking the time to abide? What is the greatest source of power in my life? Is it my work, service, and sacrifice for others, or is it my striving to work for God? It should be none of these— what ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. We must make a determination to limit and concentrate our desires and interests on the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
“Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do….” The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and what appears to be his free choices are actually God’s foreordained decrees. Is this mysterious? Does it appear to contradict sound logic or seem totally absurd? Yes, but what a glorious truth it is to a saint of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves. The Place of Help, 1051 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 28-29; John 17