Max Lucado Daily: GOD SEES YOU
Make a list of God’s mistakes. Pretty short, huh? Now make a list of the times he has forgiven you for yours. Who on earth has such a record? You can depend on him. “[He] is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Trust him, trust him. Join with Isaiah, who resolved, “I will trust in him and not be afraid” (Isaiah 12:2).
Psalm 37:23–24 says God is directing your steps. He delights in every detail of your life. Doesn’t matter who you are. Potbellied pig or prized purebred, God sees no difference. But he sees you. In fact, that’s his car pulling over to the side of the road. That’s God opening the door. And that’s you climbing into the passenger seat to see how he will write the next chapter in your story.
Psalm 80
Listen, Shepherd, Israel’s Shepherd—
get all your Joseph sheep together.
Throw beams of light
from your dazzling throne
So Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh
can see where they’re going.
Get out of bed—you’ve slept long enough!
Come on the run before it’s too late.
3 God, come back!
Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
4-6 God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
how long will you smolder like a sleeping volcano
while your people call for fire and brimstone?
You put us on a diet of tears,
bucket after bucket of salty tears to drink.
You make us look ridiculous to our friends;
our enemies poke fun day after day.
7 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
8-18 Remember how you brought a young vine from Egypt,
cleared out the brambles and briers
and planted your very own vineyard?
You prepared the good earth,
you planted her roots deep;
the vineyard filled the land.
Your vine soared high and shaded the mountains,
even dwarfing the giant cedars.
Your vine ranged west to the Sea,
east to the River.
So why do you no longer protect your vine?
Trespassers pick its grapes at will;
Wild pigs crash through and crush it,
and the mice nibble away at what’s left.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies, turn our way!
Take a good look at what’s happened
and attend to this vine.
Care for what you once tenderly planted—
the vine you raised from a shoot.
And those who dared to set it on fire—
give them a look that will kill!
Then take the hand of your once-favorite child,
the child you raised to adulthood.
We will never turn our back on you;
breathe life into our lungs so we can shout your name!
19 God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Read: Matthew 23:37–24:2
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
INSIGHT
Scholars believe Jesus made the statements about the temple in Matthew 24 two days prior to His crucifixion. The temple was a source of great national pride for the Jewish people. Constructed by Herod the Great, it was twice as large as Solomon’s temple and served as the centerpiece of national faith. Not surprisingly, Jesus’ prophecy about the temple’s destruction was literally fulfilled. Josephus the historian, who was with the Romans at the temple’s destruction, has left us an eyewitness account of that event. The destruction was thorough, with only a portion of the Western Wall left standing.
At Jesus’ crucifixion, the miraculous tearing in two of the temple curtain signified the end of the system of animal sacrifice for sin (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), yet these ineffective sacrifices did continue for a time. The destruction of the temple in ad 70 put an end to the practice.
To Be Human -By Mart DeHaan
Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Matthew 23:37
“Mr. Singerman, why are you crying?” asked twelve-year-old Albert as he watched the master craftsman construct a wooden box.
“I cry,” he said, “because my father cried, and because my grandfather cried.” The woodworker’s answer to his young apprentice provides a tender moment in an episode of Little House on the Prairie. “Tears,” explained Mr. Singerman, “come with the making of a coffin.”
“Some men don’t cry because they fear it is a sign of weakness,” he said. “I was taught that a man is a man because he can cry.”
Emotion must have welled up in the eyes of Jesus as He compared His concern for Jerusalem to the care of a mother hen for her chicks (Matthew 23:37). His disciples were often confused by what they saw in His eyes or heard in His stories. His idea of what it meant to be strong was different. It happened again as they walked with Him from the temple. Calling His attention to the massive stone walls and magnificent decor of their place of worship (24:1), the disciples noted the strength of human accomplishment. Jesus saw a temple that would be leveled in ad 70.
Christ shows us that healthy people know when to cry and why. He cried because His Father cares and His Spirit groans for children who couldn’t yet see what breaks His heart.
In what situations in your life might you be avoiding grief? How can your faith in a Savior who cries (John 11:35) help you express your grief in a healthy way?
Father, please replace any cold illusions of strength I cling to with a growing understanding of the cares and concerns that break Your heart for children like me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 25, 2021
The Destitution of Service
…though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. —2 Corinthians 12:15
Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, “It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.
The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out-socialized” the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L
Bible in a Year: Numbers 12-14; Mark 5:21-43
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Divine Delays - #8904
You pay a lot more attention to a story on the news when it might involve someone you love. It was that way the night we saw a story about a major rockslide that closed a stretch of Interstate 70 in Colorado. Our son and daughter-in-law and little granddaughter were driving that very day through that part of Colorado. The rockslide had shattered the pavement, and it embedded boulders as deep as six feet into the highway and created craters in the road. Some of the boulders were said to be as big as a van. Obviously, it was going to take some time to get that stretch of the highway open again, which meant a 200-mile-plus detour around the closure. That was okay with our family. In fact, my son said they saw some spectacular scenery they wouldn't have seen any other way. Not long before the rockslide, a semi had jack-knifed just west of that area and the interstate was closed because of it. I've been in those miles-long traffic jams (maybe you have too), and you can really get frustrated, aggravated, and just ugly. But because of that frustrating delay, there was no traffic on the road when that avalanche of rocks came crashing down. You've got to figure that might have just saved lives.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Divine Delays."
If you're like me, patience is one of those areas in which you are, to say it nicely, under construction. We don't like to wait. Our lives are busy, they're full, and we hate delays. Many times the delay is actually part of the plan to protect you from something that could hurt you if you stayed "on schedule"; on your schedule, that is.
You can see God's protective delays at work in our word for today from the Word of God. While it's a chapter out of the lives of God's ancient people, it might shed light on why God seems to be taking you the long way around right now. The story is in Exodus 13:17-18. The Jews have just been miraculously delivered from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt, and they're ready to be on the interstate to the Promised Land.
Here's what happened and why. "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.' So God led the people around the desert road toward the Red Sea."
So, God's people are purposely slowed down by God, and then that longer road leads to what appears to be a disaster. They're trapped at the Red Sea with the Egyptian Army bearing down on them. Now it might be that God is taking you the longer, slower way right now. You were, like those people on the interstate that was suddenly closed, speeding full speed ahead. Suddenly, all you can see is this ocean of red brake lights in front of you. You're waiting, and you don't know why.
It's because God knows what's up ahead and you don't. And He's protecting you from a battle up there that you're not ready to fight, from danger that might hurt you, from a temptation or a test for which you're just not yet strong enough. Remember, He's promised not to let you face more than He knows you can bear. Maybe you've prayed these words many times, "Lord, 'Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'" And the reason you're waiting or taking what seems to be a detour is because your Father, who art in heaven, is answering that prayer!
And if the delay and the detour bring you to a Red Sea, not to worry! He's leading you, not into a mess, but into a miracle you'll never forget! So learn to relax when God closes the road or suddenly slows you down. It's all about His love for you, a love that knows what's best for you, a love that knows what's going to happen if you keep going the same direction at the same speed. So don't sit there, pounding the steering wheel and fuming. You aren't late. In fact, you're right on time - God's time. And this isn't Plan B. This is what God's Plan A has been all the time.
So trust the One who plans the trip; who protects those who belong to Him. If you could see what's up ahead, you would be so grateful that God has made you wait.
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.