Max Lucado Daily: WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE
Christians love to sing the hymn, Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see. Blind, blind to the promise of eternal life, blind to the provider of life. We relate to the words of the was-blind beggar, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25).
His story is our story. Perhaps that’s why John was in no hurry to tell it. He needed only twelve verses to describe how water became wine. But he dedicated a whopping forty-one verses to depicting how Jesus found, cured, and matured the blind man. Now why? Among the explanations is this one. What Jesus did physically for the blind beggar, he desires to do spiritually for all people— to restore our sight. Remember, friends, you are never alone.
2 Chronicles 36
By popular choice, Jehoahaz son of Josiah was made king at Jerusalem, succeeding his father.
King Jehoahaz
36 2-3 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to rule. He was king in Jerusalem for a mere three months. The king of Egypt dethroned him and forced the country to pay him nearly four tons of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold.
King Jehoiakim
4 Neco king of Egypt then made Eliakim, Jehoahaz’s brother, king of Judah and Jerusalem, but changed his name to Jehoiakim; then he took Jehoahaz back with him to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to rule; he was king for eleven years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he was an evil king.
6-7 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made war against him, and bound him in bronze chains, intending to take him prisoner to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also took things from The Temple of God to Babylon and put them in his royal palace.
8 The rest of the history of Jehoiakim, the outrageous sacrilege he committed and what happened to him as a consequence, is all written in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
Jehoiachin his son became the next king.
King Jehoiachin
9-10 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king. But he ruled for only three months and ten days in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he was an evil king. In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar ordered him brought to Babylon along with the valuables remaining in The Temple of God. Then he made his uncle Zedekiah a puppet king over Judah and Jerusalem.
King Zedekiah
11-13 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he started out as king. He was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. As far as God was concerned, he was just one more evil king; there wasn’t a trace of contrition in him when the prophet Jeremiah preached God’s word to him. Then he compounded his troubles by rebelling against King Nebuchadnezzar, who earlier had made him swear in God’s name that he would be loyal. He became set in his own stubborn ways—he never gave God a thought; repentance never entered his mind.
14 The evil mindset spread to the leaders and priests and filtered down to the people—it kicked off an epidemic of evil, repeating the abominations of the pagans and polluting The Temple of God so recently consecrated in Jerusalem.
15-17 God, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent warning messages to them. Out of compassion for both his people and his Temple he wanted to give them every chance possible. But they wouldn’t listen; they poked fun at God’s messengers, despised the message itself, and in general treated the prophets like idiots. God became more and more angry until there was no turning back—God called in Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who came and killed indiscriminately—and right in The Temple itself; it was a ruthless massacre: young men and virgins, the elderly and weak—they were all the same to him.
18-20 And then he plundered The Temple of everything valuable, cleaned it out completely; he emptied the treasuries of The Temple of God, the treasuries of the king and his officials, and hauled it all, people and possessions, off to Babylon. He burned The Temple of God to the ground, knocked down the wall of Jerusalem, and set fire to all the buildings—everything valuable was burned up. Any survivor was taken prisoner into exile in Babylon and made a slave to Nebuchadnezzar and his family. The exile and slavery lasted until the kingdom of Persia took over.
21 This is exactly the message of God that Jeremiah had preached: the desolate land put to an extended sabbath rest, a seventy-year Sabbath rest making up for all the unkept Sabbaths.
King Cyrus
22-23 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—this fulfilled the message of God preached by Jeremiah—God moved Cyrus king of Persia to make an official announcement throughout his kingdom; he wrote it out as follows: “From Cyrus king of Persia a proclamation: God, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also assigned me to build him a Temple of worship at Jerusalem in Judah. All who belong to God’s people are urged to return—and may your God be with you! Move forward!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 23, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 136:10–26
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.
13 to him who divided the Red Sea[a] asunder
His love endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.
17 to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures forever.
23 He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
Insight
Psalms 135 and 136 share several similarities. Both praise God for His amazing creation (135:6–7; 136:4–9). Both outline God’s role in preserving His people when the Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt (135:8–9; 136:10–15). And both recall Israel entering the Promised Land and God’s hand in eradicating the pagan kings who opposed the Hebrews (135:10–12; 136:17–22). The overarching theme of these psalms is that God alone is the one true God (135:5, 13; 136:1–3, 26), and He alone merits our praise.
Psalm 136 is antiphonal; that is, part of the congregation was to sing the first line while the other half responded with “His love endures forever.” The pattern repeats itself in every verse of the psalm. Singing of God’s goodness to us—especially with other believers—reminds us of His character and inclines our emotions to reflect our gratitude to Him.
Nice Shot?
To him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever. Psalm 136:10
When Walt Disney’s Bambi was re-released, moms and dads relived childhood memories with their sons and daughters. A young mother, whose husband was an avid outdoorsman with an impressive trophy room, was one of those parents. With her little ones at her side, she experienced with them the gasp and groan of the moment when Bambi lost his mother to a hunter. To this day she’s reminded at family gatherings of her embarrassment when, in all innocence, her little boy shouted out in the theater, “Nice shot!”
In time, we laugh at the embarrassing things our children say. But what are we to say when the people of Psalm 136 do something similar? Israel, God’s chosen and rescued people, celebrate a love that endures for all creation and for themselves—but not for their enemies. The psalm sings the praises of “him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt” (v. 10; see also Exodus 12:29–30).
Doesn’t that sound a bit like a shout of “nice shot” at the expense of someone else’s mother, sister, father, brother?
That’s why we need the rest of the story. Only when the lights come up in the resurrection of Jesus can the whole world be invited into the joy of one family’s stories, tears, and laughter. Only when we receive Jesus as our Savior and are made alive in Him can we share the wonder of a God who loves everyone—at His own expense. By: Mart DeHaan
Reflect & Pray
What reason is given twenty-six times for this song? What lyrics show that the heart of God reaches beyond those who sing the words?
Unseen Father, thank You for giving me reasons to believe that Your vision and love for all are better and wider than my love for myself and my own.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 23, 2020
Nothing of the Old Life!
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17
Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18). How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind…is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God— such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 1-2; 1 Timothy 3
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 23, 2020
Standing Against The Storm - #8815
Each summer it's been our privilege to travel with a team of young Native Americans to take the hope of Jesus to America's reservation young people, and God has really shown up powerfully for these young spiritual warriors. Like the night one summer in a very remote corner of New Mexico when our last outreach was about to be rained out. The previous night the thunderstorms had hit the basketball court just as we were about to present the Gospel. So, this was now our last opportunity to invite young people to come to Christ in an area where the spiritual darkness was very deeply entrenched.
Well, once again, just before invitation time, wouldn't you know it; a wall of ominous storm clouds was moving toward the school. I asked six of our team members to pray in the face of that approaching storm, and as I said, "Stand against that storm in Jesus' name." They got in a huddle and they prayed really fervently and minutes later they came running to tell me what had happened. They said, "Ron, the storm suddenly divided in two and went around the school!" That night one out of five people in that village made a public commitment to Jesus Christ!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Standing Against The Storm."
That might be exactly what God is wanting you to do right now - to stand in prayer against the storm that is threatening your children, or your marriage, or your ministry, or something or someone that you care deeply about.
In Isaiah 36, beginning with verse 18, our word for today from the Word of God, a deadly military storm is bearing down on King Hezekiah and the Jews. The seemingly invincible Assyrian army has gobbled up every kingdom in its path and now they're moving against Jerusalem. The Assyrian king sent this letter to Hezekiah, "Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely." The storm has engulfed everything in its path, and this guy's saying Jerusalem is next.
Notice Hezekiah's response: "He went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord Almighty, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth...Now O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.'" God tells Hezekiah He is going to intervene because "you have prayed to Me." Outcome? Listen: "The angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and 85,000 men in the Assyrian camp...So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, broke camp and withdrew."
Now about that storm that's bearing down on you or someone you love. You have the same God King Hezekiah did, and He is Lord over this seemingly unstoppable storm. It's time for you to do what those Native American young people did that summer; get on your knees and you stand against that storm in Jesus' name. Do a Hezekiah - spread the threat out before your Lord. When you pray, don't focus on the threat, but like King Hezekiah, focus on the greatness and the total sovereignty of the God in whom you are trusting and trust Him to unleash His authority on that storm!
What looks like something that's going to bring destruction may actually be a unique opportunity for you, and all those around you, to see what God can do! This is about His glory being seen! So "come boldly to the throne of grace," the Bible says in Hebrews 4:16, lay out the threat before the Lord, stand against that storm, and expect something that only God can do!
From my daily reading of the bible, Our Daily Bread Devotionals, My Utmost for His Highest and Ron Hutchcraft "A Word with You" and occasionally others.