Max Lucado Daily: LET GOD CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK
Were your growing up years hard years? Family pain is the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early; it involves people who should have been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn’t know how to defend yourself. Besides, the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother—they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them. As a result, you’ve been operating on faulty data. “You’re stupid, slow, dumb like your daddy, fat like your momma,” and decades later these voices of defeat still echo in our subconscious.
But they don’t have to. Romans 12:2 says, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” You are God’s child, His creation. You’ll get through this — you’re a part of His family.
Isaiah 60
“Get out of bed, Jerusalem!
Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight.
God’s bright glory has risen for you.
The whole earth is wrapped in darkness,
all people sunk in deep darkness,
But God rises on you,
his sunrise glory breaks over you.
Nations will come to your light,
kings to your sunburst brightness.
Look up! Look around!
Watch as they gather, watch as they approach you:
Your sons coming from great distances,
your daughters carried by their nannies.
When you see them coming you’ll smile—big smiles!
Your heart will swell and, yes, burst!
All those people returning by sea for the reunion,
a rich harvest of exiles gathered in from the nations!
And then streams of camel caravans as far as the eye can see,
young camels of nomads in Midian and Ephah,
Pouring in from the south from Sheba,
loaded with gold and frankincense,
preaching the praises of God.
And yes, a great roundup
of flocks from the nomads in Kedar and Nebaioth,
Welcome gifts for worship at my altar
as I bathe my glorious Temple in splendor.
8-22 “What’s that we see in the distance,
a cloud on the horizon, like doves darkening the sky?
It’s ships from the distant islands,
the famous Tarshish ships
Returning your children from faraway places,
loaded with riches, with silver and gold,
And backed by the name of your God, The Holy of Israel,
showering you with splendor.
Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
and their kings assist you in the conduct of worship.
When I was angry I hit you hard.
It’s my desire now to be tender.
Your Jerusalem gates will always be open
—open house day and night!—
Receiving deliveries of wealth from all nations,
and their kings, the delivery boys!
Any nation or kingdom that doesn’t deliver will perish;
those nations will be totally wasted.
The rich woods of Lebanon will be delivered
—all that cypress and oak and pine—
To give a splendid elegance to my Sanctuary,
as I make my footstool glorious.
The descendants of your oppressor
will come bowing and scraping to you.
All who looked down at you in contempt
will lick your boots.
They’ll confer a title on you: City of God,
Zion of The Holy of Israel.
Not long ago you were despised refuse—
out-of-the-way, unvisited, ignored.
But now I’ve put you on your feet,
towering and grand forever, a joy to look at!
When you suck the milk of nations
and the breasts of royalty,
You’ll know that I, God, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, Champion of Jacob.
I’ll give you only the best—no more hand-me-downs!
Gold instead of bronze, silver instead of iron,
bronze instead of wood, iron instead of stones.
I’ll install Peace to run your country,
make Righteousness your boss.
There’ll be no more stories of crime in your land,
no more robberies, no more vandalism.
You’ll name your main street Salvation Way,
and install Praise Park at the center of town.
You’ll have no more need of the sun by day
nor the brightness of the moon at night.
God will be your eternal light,
your God will bathe you in splendor.
Your sun will never go down,
your moon will never fade.
I will be your eternal light.
Your days of grieving are over.
All your people will live right and well,
in permanent possession of the land.
They’re the green shoot that I planted,
planted with my own hands to display my glory.
The runt will become a great tribe,
the weakling become a strong nation.
I am God.
At the right time I’ll make it happen.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, June 12, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Exodus 17:8–13
The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Insight
The Amalekites were one of a number of ancient tribes that persistently acted like a thorn in Israel’s side. Their name comes from the founder of this particular group, Amalek, one of the grandsons of Esau (Genesis 36:12). This would make the Amalekites cousins of the Israelites, who were descendants of Jacob/Israel, Esau’s twin brother. While it seems clear that Esau and Jacob had patched up their relationship with one another after years of hatred and resentment, the same can’t be said of Esau’s descendants. David fought against Amalekite raiders who’d stolen property, wives, and children from him and his men (2 Samuel 1:1). The Amalekites are mentioned for the final time in the Old Testament in 1 Chronicles 4:43, where they’re finally defeated and destroyed by Israel. It’s a long, sad story of hatred and its destructive results.
Together We Win
Two are better than one . . . : If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
In the middle of the night, Pastor Samuel Baggaga received a call asking him to come to the home of a church member. When he arrived, he found a house engulfed by fire. The father, though burned himself, had reentered the home to rescue one of his children and emerged with an unconscious daughter. The hospital, in this rural Ugandan setting, was six miles (10 kilometers) away. With no transportation available, the pastor and the father started running to the hospital with the child. When one of them tired from carrying the injured girl, the other one took over. Together they made the journey; the father and his daughter were treated and then fully recovered.
In Exodus 17:8–13 the Lord orchestrated a great victory that included the efforts of Joshua, who led fighting men on the battlefield; and Moses, who kept his hands raised while holding the staff of God. When Moses’ hands grew weary, Aaron and Hur assisted by each holding up one of his hands until the setting of the sun and the defeat of the enemy.
The value of interdependence can never be underestimated. God, in His kindness, graciously provides people as His agents for mutual good. Listening ears and helpful hands; wise, comforting, and correcting words—these and other resources come to us and through us to others. Together we win and God gets the glory! By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
At what times in your life have you benefited from the support of others? Who might you know who needs you to run with them in this season of their life?
Father, thank You for those You’ve graciously provided in my life and for those You’ve allowed me to share life with for our mutual good and Your glory.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 12, 2020
Getting There (2)
They said to Him, "Rabbi…where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." —John 1:38-39
Where our self-interest sleeps and the real interest is awakened. “They…remained with Him that day….” That is about all some of us ever do. We stay with Him a short time, only to wake up to our own realities of life. Our self-interest rises up and our abiding with Him is past. Yet there is no circumstance of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.
“You are Simon….You shall be called Cephas” (John 1:42). God writes our new name only on those places in our lives where He has erased our pride, self-sufficiency, and self-interest. Some of us have our new name written only in certain spots, like spiritual measles. And in those areas of our lives we look all right. When we are in our best spiritual mood, you would think we were the highest quality saints. But don’t dare look at us when we are not in that mood. A true disciple is one who has his new name written all over him— self-interest, pride, and self-sufficiency have been completely erased.
Pride is the sin of making “self” our god. And some of us today do this, not like the Pharisee, but like the tax collector (see Luke 18:9-14). For you to say, “Oh, I’m no saint,” is acceptable by human standards of pride, but it is unconscious blasphemy against God. You defy God to make you a saint, as if to say, “I am too weak and hopeless and outside the reach of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.” Why aren’t you a saint? It is either that you do not want to be a saint, or that you do not believe that God can make you into one. You say it would be all right if God saved you and took you straight to heaven. That is exactly what He will do! And not only do we make our home with Him, but Jesus said of His Father and Himself, “…We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). Put no conditions on your life— let Jesus be everything to you, and He will take you home with Him not only for a day, but for eternity.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.” Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
Bible in a Year: Ezra 3-5; John 20
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 12, 2020
The "God Is For Girls" Myth - #8720
Jeff was the quarterback of our high school football team back when we lived in New Jersey. He always attended this little Bible study we had pre-game, but he never made a commitment to Christ. Well, I saw him on one of his breaks from college. He said, "You know, Ron, I have made a commitment to Christ now, but it was hard to do it in high school, especially because we were guys.
Well, think about that! I mean, look at the population of any average church youth group. Mostly guys? No, it's mostly girls usually. Look at the missionaries around the world. More men? No, it seems like a lot more women sometimes. If one person in a married couple is a believer, more often than not it's going to be the wife. What's going on here? Well, weren't the first 12 followers of Jesus men?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'God Is For Girls' Myth."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in 1 John 2, and I'm going to read the second part of verse 14. John says, "I write to you young men because you are strong." Okay, there's nothing wimpy about the group he's writing to. "I'm writing to you because you are strong." Why? "The Word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one."
Okay, he's writing to young men here who are sold out to a cause; who are fighters, winners, overcomers; they're champions. They are young men who have found the ultimate outlet for their manness - Jesus Christ. They are waging spiritual war for Him and they're winning.
Now, if you go back as far as the Garden of Eden, which is about as far back as you can go, you'll find that when God came looking for somebody after the first sin He didn't come looking for Eve. He said, "Adam, where are you?" When Sarah, Abraham's wife, laughed at God's promise, the Lord didn't come looking for Sarah. He came looking for Abraham. When God selected some people to build His church on, it was men - twelve men.
Now, this is not to exclude women from following Christ. No, they were intensely loyal to Him during His earthly ministry here. And no doubt women have a spiritual radar and sensitivity that men will probably never have. There's a love and a tenderness about a woman that lets us know what God's accepting love feels like. But from Eden until now, man was created by God to take the spiritual lead.
God is not just for girls I mean. It's unacceptable for a girl to be the conscience of a dating relationship. It's unacceptable for a woman to be the spiritual leader in a family because a man has forfeited that leadership. It's unacceptable for a man to hold back in spiritual arenas while he's giving his all in business and every other arena.
See, man is built to look for a cause to give 100% to. We give everything we've got to what we believe in. That's why a guy loves sports, because it's someplace where he can feel like he's giving everything he can give; or business. He throws himself into making it in business. But every man knows that those causes are ultimately a disappointment no matter how much you give. There's only one cause a man was built to lose himself in, and that is the service of Jesus Christ; all of my manness in the service of the God-man, Jesus.
Maybe you've pursued every kind of conquest as a guy and yet you have never found what will fill that hole in your heart. You never found what would give you that cause that really is worth everything you have. You've never found that meaning for your one life that you have on this planet, and the answer is the One who made you, who you were made for, and who died for you on a cross. It is the man Jesus Christ.
Maybe today is your day to finally step into completeness in Him. I hope today you'll say, "Jesus, I'm your guy from now on." We'd love to help you know how to begin a relationship with Him and make sure you've got this done. Go to our website ANewStory.com.
And then, see as a man, you can take your stand for Christ boldly, passionately, without reservation, and that is how you become a spiritual champion. And, my friend, that is maximum manhood!