Max Lucado Daily: AS I HAVE LOVED YOU - June 28, 2021
The Greek word used for love—agape—denotes an unselfish affection. The final phrase is the essential one: “as I have loved you.” Have you let God love you? Please don’t hurry past the question.
We don’t love people because people are lovable. The truth is, people can be cranky, stubborn, selfish, and cruel. We love people for this reason: we have come to experience and believe the love that God has for us. We are beneficiaries of an unexpected, undeserved, yet undeniable gift — the love of God. And it is only by receiving our Father’s agape love that we can discover an agape love for others.
So be loved, and then love. Just as hurt people hurt people, loved people love people. So let God love you. This is how happiness happens.
Job 27
No Place to Hide
Having waited for Zophar, Job now resumed his defense:
“God-Alive! He’s denied me justice!
God Almighty! He’s ruined my life!
But for as long as I draw breath,
and for as long as God breathes life into me,
I refuse to say one word that isn’t true.
I refuse to confess to any charge that’s false.
There is no way I’ll ever agree to your accusations.
I’ll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life.
I’m holding fast to my integrity and not loosening my grip—
and, believe me, I’ll never regret it.
7-10 “Let my enemy be exposed as wicked!
Let my adversary be proven guilty!
What hope do people without God have when life is cut short?
when God puts an end to life?
Do you think God will listen to their cry for help
when disaster hits?
What interest have they ever shown in the Almighty?
Have they ever been known to pray before?
11-12 “I’ve given you a clear account of God in action,
suppressed nothing regarding God Almighty.
The evidence is right before you. You can all see it for yourselves,
so why do you keep talking nonsense?
13-23 “I’ll quote your own words back to you:
“‘This is how God treats the wicked,
this is what evil people can expect from God Almighty:
Their children—all of them—will die violent deaths;
they’ll never have enough bread to put on the table.
They’ll be wiped out by the plague,
and none of the widows will shed a tear when they’re gone.
Even if they make a lot of money
and are resplendent in the latest fashions,
It’s the good who will end up wearing the clothes
and the decent who will divide up the money.
They build elaborate houses
that won’t survive a single winter.
They go to bed wealthy
and wake up poor.
Terrors pour in on them like flash floods—
a tornado snatches them away in the middle of the night,
A cyclone sweeps them up—gone!
Not a trace of them left, not even a footprint.
Catastrophes relentlessly pursue them;
they run this way and that, but there’s no place to hide—
Pummeled by the weather,
blown to smithereens by the storm.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 28, 2021
Read: Psalm 63
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
Footnotes
Psalm 63:1 In Hebrew texts 63:1-11 is numbered 63:2-12.
INSIGHT
Readers of the book of Psalms will notice that the majority of the psalms (more than one hundred) include headers or superscriptions. While these aren’t part of the psalm itself, the information provided can often enhance one’s understanding of the psalm’s content. The header of Psalm 63 is a good example: “A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.” David, the Israelite king, is believed to be the author. The setting was when he was in the wilderness (v. 1) and a king (v. 11). Most likely, the occasion is when David fled to the wilderness from his rebellious son Absalom (2 Samuel 15:1–19:15). Though in the midst of an unimaginable situation, David expressed hope in God’s protection: “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me” (Psalm 63:7–8).
By Monica La Rose God’s Protection
I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:7–8
Needles, milk, mushrooms, elevators, births, bees, and bees in blenders—these are just a fraction of the many phobias attributed to Mr. Adrian Monk, detective and title character of the TV show Monk. But when he and longtime rival Harold Krenshaw find themselves locked in a car trunk, Monk has a breakthrough that allows him to cross off at least one fear from his list—claustrophobia.
It’s while Monk and Harold are both panicking that the epiphany comes, abruptly interrupting Monk’s angst. “I think we’ve been looking at this the wrong way,” he tells Harold. “This trunk, these walls . . . they’re not closing in on us . . . they’re protecting us, really. They’re keeping the bad stuff out . . . germs, and snakes, and harmonicas.” Eyes widening, Harold sees what he means and whispers in wonder, “This trunk is our friend.”
In Psalm 63, it’s almost as if David has a similar epiphany. Despite being in a “dry and parched land,” when David remembers God’s power, glory, and love (vv. 1–3), it’s as if the desert transforms into a place of God’s care and protection. Like a baby bird hiding in the shelter of a mother’s wings, David finds that when he clings to God, even in that barren place, he can feast “as with the richest of foods” (v. 5), finding nourishment and strength in a love that “is better than life” (v. 3).
When have you experienced God’s care for you while you were in a difficult place? In what current struggles might you learn to “sing in the shadow of [God’s] wings”?
Loving Creator, Sustainer, and Nourisher, thank You for the miraculous way Your love seeps into my heart in even the most difficult places, transforming them into the shelter of Your wings.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 28, 2021
Held by the Grip of God
I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. —Philippians 3:12
Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you “turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy 5:32). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has “laid hold of” us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, “Well, I’m really not suited for this.” What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you— your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that?
Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are— you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace.
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do…I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not fundamentally free; external circumstances are not in our hands, they are in God’s hands, the one thing in which we are free is in our personal relationship to God. We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be. Conformed to His Image, 354 L
Bible in a Year: Job 11-13; Acts 9:1-21
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 28, 2021
The Noise of Neglect - #8991
Okay, let's face it, I'm mechanically challenged. Now we've got that over with. I mean, I can take care of the basics on a car, but if it's beyond "A, B, C," I need outside help, I'm sorry. Sometimes your car starts talking to you, making those strange sounds, and doing strange things. I've noticed those things don't go away by themselves. Over time, those noises get louder; those strange things that it does come more often. Sometimes, it's just natural - just like us. You know, cars get old, parts start wearing out. But sometimes that noise and trouble can be avoided.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Noise of Neglect."
When you fail to maintain your car, you're neglecting that buggy, it's going to start making some strange noises. It's going to start doing some strange things. So do people; especially if the people is a woman who has committed her life to a man she married. If she starts making strange noises and doing some strange things, the cause may well be that silent destroyer called neglect.
Maybe there's a guy listening today who's been wondering, "What's the deal with my wife? She's becoming more stressed, more shrill, more negative, more hostile, more of a nag. Something's obviously wrong with the girl." Or maybe not. Maybe she's showing the signs of the neglect of a husband who promised his life for her but has little or no time for her, to really hear her heart - to find out where she's hurting inside, anxious inside, to find out what she really needs.
There are few things more heartbreaking and more hurtful to a woman than an inattentive husband. And even though I assume you love her, that inattentive, distracted husband might be you. And the malfunctions and strange sounds are really the result of your neglect.
God makes very clear the kind of treatment and priority He expects a man to give to the woman he married. In 1 Peter 3:7, our word for today from the Word of God, He says: "Husbands...be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." The New Living Translation says, "Give honor to your wives. Treat them with understanding as you live together."
Look at the action words: consider her - take her needs and her feelings into consideration. Treat her with respect. That means listening to her; regarding her as someone important. She's supposed to be the most important voice on earth to you. And some other voices might be drowning hers out. And treat her like a fellow-heir in God's family. We're talking royal treatment here. How much does this matter to God? He says if you don't treat her like this, don't expect Him to answer your prayers!
Could it be this woman you committed to cherish and honor is feeling ignored, marginalized and unheard? Maybe you've been trying to avoid conflict by not communicating with her on difficult subjects. All that does is postpone and intensify the conflict and leave her feeling frozen out. And it's getting harder for her to trust you.
It's in your power to change it, to put your wife back where you once had her, in the center of your affections, in the center of your attention. It begins by making it a commitment to give her all of you - your undivided attention - at least once a day. Don't let others push her out so she just gets your leftovers. She deserves your best. You promised.
The woman you married is a flower that can flourish with your care or wither with your neglect. She needs you. She was wired by God to need you. And you need her. Tell her that. Tell her you're sorry for so often running past her instead of running to her. And tell her, "Honey, I'm home," because you've been away too long.
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.