Max Lucado Daily: THAT’S GOD’S JOB
Seems too easy. Doesn’t mom need to experience what she gave? A few years wondering if she’ll see her daughter again, some pain-filled nights, a bit of justice. Isn’t some vengeance in order? Of course it is. God cares about justice more than we do. In Romans 12, Paul says, “Never pay back evil for evil. Leave that to God, for He has said that he will repay those who deserve it.”
We fear the evildoer will slip into the night, unknown and unpunished. Not to worry. God will repay—not He might repay. God will execute justice on behalf of truth and fairness. Fix your enemies? That’s God’s job. Forgive your enemies? Ahh, now that’s where you and I come in: we forgive. You’ll get through this.
Isaiah 64
Can We Be Saved?
Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend,
make the mountains shudder at your presence—
As when a forest catches fire,
as when fire makes a pot to boil—
To shock your enemies into facing you,
make the nations shake in their boots!
You did terrible things we never expected,
descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.
Since before time began
no one has ever imagined,
No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you
who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who happily do what is right,
who keep a good memory of the way you work.
But how angry you’ve been with us!
We’ve sinned and kept at it so long!
Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved?
We’re all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.
Our best efforts are grease-stained rags.
We dry up like autumn leaves—
sin-dried, we’re blown off by the wind.
No one prays to you
or makes the effort to reach out to you
Because you’ve turned away from us,
left us to stew in our sins.
8-12 Still, God, you are our Father.
We’re the clay and you’re our potter:
All of us are what you made us.
Don’t be too angry with us, O God.
Don’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.
Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.
Your holy cities are all ghost towns:
Zion’s a ghost town,
Jerusalem’s a field of weeds.
Our holy and beautiful Temple,
which our ancestors filled with your praises,
Was burned down by fire,
all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins.
In the face of all this,
are you going to sit there unmoved, God?
Aren’t you going to say something?
Haven’t you made us miserable long enough?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Mark 14:1–9
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages[a] and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you,[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Footnotes:
Mark 14:5 Greek than three hundred denarii
Mark 14:7 See Deut. 15:11.
Insight
Mark 13 ends with Jesus urging His disciples, and everyone, to be awake rather than asleep when He returns (vv. 35–36). Chapter 14 gives us contrasting examples of what it means to be ready. Into the account of those who are conspiring to get rid of Jesus (14:1–2, 10–11), Mark inserts the story of a woman who honors His approaching death (vv. 3–9). In the spirit of her affections, she was awake even if she didn’t consciously know that she was foreshadowing Jesus’ suffering (vv. 6–9). A group of religious leaders, on the other hand, were clueless to the fact that in the secrecy of their murderous plans, they, along with Judas, were about to betray and demand the crucifixion of their long-awaited Savior. Two days before the Jewish feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread, they were sleeping in what Jesus had called the “yeast” of hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).
Dancing Before the Lord
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?” Mark 14:4
A number of years ago, my wife and I visited a small church where during the worship service a woman began to dance in the aisle. She was soon joined by others. Carolyn and I looked at each other and an unspoken agreement passed between us: “Not me!” We come from church traditions that favor a serious liturgy, and this other form of worship was well beyond our comfort zone.
But if Mark’s story of Mary’s “waste” means anything at all, it suggests that our love for Jesus may express itself in ways that others find uncomfortable (Mark 14:1–9). A year’s wages were involved in Mary’s anointing. It was an “unwise” act that invited the disciples’ scorn. The word Mark uses to describe their reaction means “to snort” and suggests disdain and mockery. Mary may have cringed, fearing Jesus’ response. But He commended her for her act of devotion and defended her against His own disciples, for Jesus saw the love that prompted her action despite what some would consider the impractical nature of it. He said, “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me” (v. 6).
Different forms of worship—informal, formal, quiet, exuberant—represent a sincere outpouring of love for Jesus. He’s worthy of all worship that comes from a heart of love. By: David H. Roper
Reflect & Pray
Why do you think we’re critical of unfamiliar forms of worship? How can we change our thoughts about a form of worship that’s outside our comfort zone?
I bow before You, Almighty God, and worship You now. You’re worthy of the highest praise and adoration.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Beware of Criticizing Others
Judge not, that you be not judged. —Matthew 7:1
Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, “Don’t.” The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. This will not happen quickly but must be developed over a span of time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person.
There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus. If I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own (see Matthew 7:3-5). Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-24). Stop having a measuring stick for other people. There is always at least one more fact, which we know nothing about, in every person’s situation. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleaning. After that, there is no possibility of pride remaining in us. I have never met a person I could despair of, or lose all hope for, after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 7-9; Acts 3
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
An Eye For Opportunity - #8723
It was always pretty exciting traveling with my wife. Well, but my wife with her camera was really exciting, because she could see things that I didn't see. Oh, yeah, I'd have to stop the car for what appeared to be no reason because she'd go, "Stop! Quick!" And, you know, when I'd see the picture, then I'd realize why we had to stop back then.
Oh, sometimes it was a little sign that later told a powerful story, or she'd seen one face in the middle of a hundred faces, or that one face captured on film some very poignant human emotion. Or we all got to see that glorious sunset, or that bird she saw in flight, or some very interesting scene that she saw and I missed.
I'm not a photographer; she was. She had an eye for it. Oh, we experience the same setting, but we didn't see the same thing. She saw the possibilities that I couldn't see. And that was one difference between us that continued to amaze me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Eye For Opportunity."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 4:3. It's actually part of a prayer. Paul says, "Pray for us that God will open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ." Notice that phrase there "open a door." Kind of reminds me of a photographer looking for photo opportunities. As believers we should be like that looking for opportunities for open doors to talk about the difference Jesus is making in our life.
See, my wife and I could be in the same photographic setting, but she was looking for, well, kind of like us who are supposed to be looking for open doors. She was looking for opportunities; I didn't see them. It's like that spiritually. If you're not looking for them, you miss them. If you're looking for them, they're all around you. It's the looking that makes the difference.
So, I'd pull up to my favorite neighborhood restaurant, and I'd said, "Lord, I've been having a crummy day so far. Give me an opportunity to speak some word about You to Joe, the owner." Wouldn't you know it, in the middle of gulping down my lunch, he comes up and says, "You know, they don't make movies like they used to." And we talked about some epic film, which, by the way, has a lot of Christians in it. And I said, "Well, did you ever see this really old movie called The Robe? It's an old movie about Jesus." I don't know why that came into my mind, but it did. He said, "Oh, I don't like that. I'm really tired of all those stories. I had those growing up, and I'm sick of all that stuff. I've heard it all." Then I said to him, "You know, when I see one of those movies, it makes me think about what Jesus did for us. He paid an awful high price for you and me just because He loves us so much."
See, it's an ongoing battle in a relationship to break through, but I had my opportunity. I asked the Lord for it, and He gave me an opportunity to get him thinking about Jesus and the cross.
If you don't know how to get started talking about Jesus, God will open a door if you'll ask Him. An open door is just a natural, God-given opportunity to bring up Jesus. It might be something going on in their life, or something going on in your life, or something going on in the world. Maybe you've been looking for that opening. Well, when it comes, He'll give you the boldness to go through that open door. Just like a photographer, when you look for opportunities, they'll be there.
When you're talking about someone's eternity, you can't miss an opportunity to talk about our Savior, because that's the only hope of an eternity in heaven. Ask Him; He'll give you that opportunity.
Paul said in Colossians 4:5 that follows our word for today from the Word of God, "Make the most of every opportunity." They're all around you. You know what happens when you begin to pray the three-open prayer on a regular basis? Man, you suddenly are positioned by God to make an eternal difference. "Lord, open a door" a natural opportunity. "Lord, open their heart." Get them ready. And "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the courage, the words, the approach.
And you know what's going to happen if you pray that every day? Your every day won't be everyday any more. Because suddenly you will find that eternity will be all over your every day.