Max Lucado Daily: Don’t Get Cozy in Persia - October 8, 2021
The book of Esther relates the story of a Persian king, Xerxes, who was thirty-five years of age and rich beyond imagination. He staged a six-month extravaganza of fine food, who’s who, pinot noir, and excess. A bit tipsy, Xerxes decided to show off his wife, Queen Vashti. Apparently he expected her to dance in front of his buddies. But boy, was he in for a surprise! She refused to comply. Xerxes’ display of importance became his display of ignorance.
What if all the glitz and glamour are only folly and foibles? And what if the lure of the lights is just a hoax? Friend, don’t romp in it. Don’t fall for it. Don’t take the bait. Don’t get cozy in Persia. Stay faithful to your call as a covenant people.
Matthew 26:36-75
Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, “This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.”
39 Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?”
40-41 When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”
42 He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, “My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I’m ready. Do it your way.”
43-44 When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time.
45-46 When he came back the next time, he said, “Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let’s get going! My betrayer is here.”
With Swords and Clubs
47-49 The words were barely out of his mouth when Judas (the one from the Twelve) showed up, and with him a gang from the high priests and religious leaders brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a sign with them: “The one I kiss, that’s the one—seize him.” He went straight to Jesus, greeted him, “How are you, Rabbi?” and kissed him.
50-51 Jesus said, “Friend, why this charade?”
Then they came on him—grabbed him and roughed him up. One of those with Jesus pulled his sword and, taking a swing at the Chief Priest’s servant, cut off his ear.
52-54 Jesus said, “Put your sword back where it belongs. All who use swords are destroyed by swords. Don’t you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?”
55-56 Then Jesus addressed the mob: “What is this—coming out after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I have been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. You’ve done it this way to confirm and fulfill the prophetic writings.”
Then all the disciples cut and ran.
False Charges
57-58 The gang that had seized Jesus led him before Caiaphas the Chief Priest, where the religion scholars and leaders had assembled. Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest’s courtyard. Then he slipped in and mingled with the servants, watching to see how things would turn out.
59-60 The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable.
60-61 Finally two men came forward with this: “He said, ‘I can tear down this Temple of God and after three days rebuild it.’”
62 The Chief Priest stood up and said, “What do you have to say to the accusation?”
63 Jesus kept silent.
Then the Chief Priest said, “I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
64 Jesus was curt: “You yourself said it. And that’s not all. Soon you’ll see it for yourself:
The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One,
Arriving on the clouds of heaven.”
65-66 At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, “He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse him? You all heard him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?”
They all said, “Death! That seals his death sentence.”
67-68 Then they were spitting in his face and knocking him around. They jeered as they slapped him: “Prophesy, Messiah: Who hit you that time?”
Denial in the Courtyard
69 All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean.”
70 In front of everybody there, he denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
71 As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”
72 Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: “I swear, I never laid eyes on the man.”
73 Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. “You’ve got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away.”
74-75 Then he got really nervous and swore. “I don’t know the man!”
Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 08, 2021
Today's Scripture
Hebrews 11:1, 32–40
(NIV)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,j Barak,k Samsonl and Jephthah,m about Davidn and Samuelo and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms,p administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,q 34 quenched the fury of the flames,r and escaped the edge of the sword;s whose weakness was turned to strength;t and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.u 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again.v There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging,w and even chains and imprisonment.x 37 They were put to death by stoning;e y they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.z They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,a destitute, persecuted and mistreated—38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in cavesb and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commendedc for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,d 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with use would they be made perfect.f
Insight
Hebrews 11 is referred to as the “Hall of Faith.” Writing to encourage Jewish believers in Jesus to remain faithful in the midst of suffering brought about by severe persecution, the unnamed author lists specific examples of people who’ve lived “by faith” (vv. 4–31). He closes this chapter with an overview of countless unnamed faithful people (vv. 32–38) “commended for their faith” but who haven’t yet “received what had been promised” (v. 39). Hebrews 11 is a reminder that the only way to live and to please God is by faith (v. 6). Those who lived “by faith” chose to live as “foreigners and strangers on earth” (v. 13). They refused to return to the sinful life they’d left behind but longed “for a better country—a heavenly one” (v. 16). By: K. T. Sim
No Such Thing as Ordinary
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.
Hebrews 11:39
When Anita passed away in her sleep on her ninetieth birthday, the quietness of her departure reflected the quietness of her life. A widow, she had been devoted to her children and grandchildren and to being a friend to younger women in the church.
Anita wasn’t particularly remarkable in talent or achievement. But her deep faith in God inspired those who knew her. “When I don’t know what to do about a problem,” a friend of mine said, “I don’t think about the words of a famous preacher or author. I think about what Anita would say.”
Many of us are like Anita—ordinary people living ordinary lives. Our names will never be in the news, and we won’t have monuments built in our honor. But a life lived with faith in Jesus is never ordinary. Some of the people listed in Hebrews 11 were not named (vv. 35–38); they walked the path of obscurity and didn't receive the reward promised to them in this life (v. 39). Yet, because they obeyed God, their faith wasn’t in vain. God used their lives in ways that went beyond their lack of notoriety (v. 40).
If you feel discouraged about the seeming ordinary state of your life, remember that a life lived by faith in God has an impact throughout eternity. Even if we’re ordinary, we can have an extraordinary faith.
By: Karen Huang
Reflect & Pray
In what area of your daily life might God be calling you to exercise faith in Him? How can He help you be more obedient and faithful in what you do every day?
Faithful God, please help me to trust and obey You always.
Learn how to find your true identity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 08, 2021
Coming to Jesus
Come to Me… —Matthew 11:28
Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— “Come to Me….” In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, “Just as I am, I come.” As long as you have even the least bit of spiritual disrespect, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do something very big, and yet all He is telling you to do is to “Come….”
“Come to Me….” When you hear those words, you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, and it will involve anything that will uproot whatever is preventing you from getting through to Jesus. And you will never get any further until you are willing to do that very thing. The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him do so.
How often have you come to God with your requests and gone away thinking, “I’ve really received what I wanted this time!” And yet you go away with nothing, while all the time God has stood with His hands outstretched not only to take you but also for you to take Him. Just think of the invincible, unconquerable, and untiring patience of Jesus, who lovingly says, “Come to Me….”
Share with your friends:
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: Isaiah 30-31; Phil 4
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 08, 2021
How to Prove You're a Man - #9065
I don't think this is a surprise to anybody, but high school athletes are pretty impressed with their own bodies. You know, they lift, they work out, they admire their new build, and they compare how much weight they can bench press, and how fast and how far they can run. And that's fine. But the problem is you begin to think that manhood is that physical strength. Well, listen, manhood goes way beyond that. But men of all ages, not just high school athletes, seem to believe that conquest is what shows you're a man: the conquest of a woman, of a goal, of a competitor. Actually there are some very little boys in some very big bodies, and there are some people we might call wimps who are really in the winner's circle. See, we might be missing what manhood really is.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Prove You're a Man."
Well, our word for today from the Word of God is about how to prove you're a man, and it's in Titus 2:6. Actually, Titus is a young pastor, and he's being instructed as to what to teach each of the age groups in the church. And here now are the young men. So he turns to the young men - the people who are just forming their concept of manhood, and interestingly enough he wraps up his description of manhood in one word. "Similarly" he says here, "encourage the young men to be self-controlled." That's it...God's message to men in one compound word - self-controlled!
Proverbs 16:32 is one of my favorite verses about manhood. It says that "the man who controls his spirit is stronger than the man who conquers a city." Okay, look. he can control himself, and God says that's more impressive. That's biblical manhood. The Bible is saying it's more impressive to do that than to make a big conquest. So, the question about manhood really is this: "How well are you managing conquering yourself?"
Now, what does it mean to have self-control? What do you have to control? Well, for example, how well do you control your temper? Strangely enough, some people think that the opposite of controlling your temper is manly; that you can show how mad you are. No, the inventor of manhood says it's the ability to control your temper that makes you a man.
How about controlling your passions? See, a biblical man is not one who turns to a woman and says, "How far can we go?" No, he's the one who sets a high standard and takes the moral cat-and-mouse game out of a relationship and says, "We're going to be pure." He's able to control his passions. He's able to control his mouth and tame his tongue - the profanity and the put-downs. He controls his time; he uses his time carefully, not carelessly. He's not an impatient person; he's able to control his impatience. That's manhood! He can control his selfishness. You can tell because he puts others first.
See, sometimes biblical manhood is the opposite of the superficial, self-serving myths that we've been fed about manhood, guys. I trust the manufacturer of manhood. I mean, He knows best. God knows what it is, and He tells us where we get self-control. He says, "The fruit of the spirit is self-control."
Many of us have tried in our own efforts to become the man that all the people around us needed us to be. But, you know, we can't change ourselves. The Bible says, "If anyone is in Christ he's a new creation. The old is gone; a new life has begun. There were 12 very manly men in Jesus' day who found the one place, the one person, the one cause for which they could give everything. And that was following Jesus.
And maybe today you need to heed that same invitation that He gave men 2,000 years ago and He's been giving men for 2,000 years since - "Follow Me." What's that like? How do you get started in that relationship? Go to our website ANewStory.com.
If you're a woman today, would you encourage this kind of self-control in the men you know? And if you're a man, understand one of the most important muscles you have to develop - the spiritual muscles that give you control over your temper, your passions, your mouth, and your impatience. Self-control - that's how you prove you're a man.