Max Lucado Daily: God Where We Are - December 27, 2021
God didn’t tell me, “Clean up before you come in.” He offered, “Come in and I’ll clean you up.” It’s not my grip on him that matters but his grip on me. And his grip is sure. So is his presence in my life. Christmas presents from Santa? That’s nice. But the perpetual presence of Christ? That’s life changing.
God is always near us. Always for us. Always in us. We may forget him, but God will never forget us. We are forever on his mind and in his plans. He called himself “‘Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:23).
Not just “God made us.” Not just “God thinks of us.” But God with us. God where we are: at the office, in the kitchen, on the plane. He breathed our air and walked this earth. God…with…us!
Mark 12:1-27
The Story About a Vineyard
Then Jesus started telling them stories. “A man planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, erected a watchtower, turned it over to the farmhands, and went off on a trip. At the time for harvest, he sent a servant back to the farmhands to collect his profits.
3-5 “They grabbed him, beat him up, and sent him off empty-handed. So he sent another servant. That one they tarred and feathered. He sent another and that one they killed. And on and on, many others. Some they beat up, some they killed.
6 “Finally there was only one left: a beloved son. In a last-ditch effort, he sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
7-8 “But those farmhands saw their chance. They rubbed their hands together in greed and said, ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, killed him, and threw him over the fence.
9-11 “What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? Right. He’ll come and get rid of everyone. Then he’ll assign the care of the vineyard to others. Read it for yourselves in Scripture:
That stone the masons threw out
is now the cornerstone!
This is God’s work;
we rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!”
12 They wanted to lynch him then and there but, intimidated by public opinion, held back. They knew the story was about them. They got away from there as fast as they could.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
13-14 They sent some Pharisees and followers of Herod to bait him, hoping to catch him saying something incriminating. They came up and said, “Teacher, we know you have integrity, that you are indifferent to public opinion, don’t pander to your students, and teach the way of God accurately. Tell us: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
15-16 He knew it was a trick question, and said, “Why are you playing these games with me? Bring me a coin and let me look at it.” They handed him one.
“This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?”
“Caesar,” they said.
17 Jesus said, “Give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.”
Their mouths hung open, speechless.
Our Intimacies Will Be with God
18-23 Some Sadducees, the party that denies any possibility of resurrection, came up and asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother is obligated to marry the widow and have children. Well, there once were seven brothers. The first took a wife. He died childless. The second married her. He died, and still no child. The same with the third. All seven took their turn, but no child. Finally the wife died. When they are raised at the resurrection, whose wife is she? All seven were her husband.”
24-27 Jesus said, “You’re way off base, and here’s why: One, you don’t know what God said; two, you don’t know how God works. After the dead are raised up, we’re past the marriage business. As it is with angels now, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding the dead, whether or not they are raised, don’t you ever read the Bible? How God at the bush said to Moses, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? The living God is God of the living, not the dead. You’re way, way off base.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 27, 2021
Today's Scripture
Isaiah 41:8–13
(NIV)
“But you, Israel, my servant,k
Jacob, whom I have chosen,l
you descendants of Abrahamm my friend,n
9 I took you from the ends of the earth,o
from its farthest corners I calledp you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;q
I have chosenr you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear,s for I am with you;t
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthenu you and helpv you;
I will uphold youw with my righteous right hand.x
11 “All who ragey against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;z
those who opposea you
will be as nothing and perish.b
12 Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.c
Those who wage war against you
will be as nothingd at all.
13 For I am the Lord your God
who takes hold of your right hande
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will helpf you.
Insight
Isaiah, whose name means “the Lord saves,” prophesied for about fifty years (740–685 bc). He warned an unrepentant, idolatrous Judah that God would use the Assyrians and the Babylonians to discipline her for her covenantal unfaithfulness (chs. 1–39). But Isaiah also speaks of God’s grace for those who repent and a future glorious restoration (chs. 11; 40–66). In Isaiah 41:8–13, God reminds His people that they have a special relationship with Him—they’ve been sovereignly “chosen” to be “his treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:6–8); they’re “the apple of his eye” (32:10). They were the descendants of Abraham, whom God affectionately called “my friend” (Isaiah 41:8). Only Abraham and Moses (Exodus 33:11) were privileged to be called God’s friend. Judah is accorded a special status as “my servant” (Isaiah 41:8–9)—the same honorific name given to Moses (Malachi 4:4) and David (1 Kings 11:13). By: K. T. Sim
God’s Right Hand
I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13
I helped my elderly dog, Wilson, out to the grass and in the process, I released the leash of our younger dog, Coach, for just a minute. As I bent to pick up Coach’s lead, he spied a bunny. Off he went, ripping the leash from my right hand and corkscrewing my ring finger in the process. I fell to the grass and cried out in pain.
After returning from urgent care and learning I’d need surgery, I begged God for help. “I’m a writer! How will I type? What about my daily duties?” As God sometimes does, He spoke to me from my daily Bible reading. “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you” (Isaiah 41:13). I scanned the context, which indicated that God’s people in Judah, to whom Isaiah was communicating His message, enjoyed a special relationship with Him. He promised His presence, strength, and help through His own righteous standing, symbolized by His right hand (v. 10). Elsewhere in Scripture, God’s right hand is used to secure victories for His people (Psalm 17:7; 98:1).
During my weeks of recovery, I experienced encouragement from God as I learned to dictate on my computer and trained my left hand in household and grooming functions. From God’s righteous right hand to our broken and needy right hands, God promises to be with us and to help us.
By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
How do you need God’s help today? How have you experienced His help in the past?
Healing God, I need Your help! Please use Your righteous right hand to take hold of my broken, weary hands and help me, I pray.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 27, 2021
Where the Battle is Won or Lost
"If you will return, O Israel," says the Lord… —Jeremiah 4:1
Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.
I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.
In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.
The Place of Help
Bible in a Year: Zechariah 1-4; Revelation 18
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 27, 2021
A Very Expensive House - #9121
It was one of those great night-night conversations that a father can have when he's with his son or daughter at bedtime. Our son-in-law tried to prepare our four-year-old grandson for sleeping by saying, "You know you don't have to worry at night because Jesus is with you." Our grandson, ever the thinker, said, "How do I know that Jesus can see me?" Dad told him, "Well, Jesus is up in heaven, watching everything we do. And He also lives inside each of us and He can see everything." Oh, ponder time! And then, "So that means I'm Jesus' house!" (We knew that he had asked Jesus into his heart.) Dad affirmed him, "Actually, that's exactly how the Bible describes it!" Then came our grandson's application questions, "Is Mommy Jesus' house?" "Yes." And you're Jesus' house?" "Yes." "And my little brother is Jesus' house?" (Well, his little brother then was too young to give his heart to Jesus yet.) Daddy said, "Well, not yet." Good. Sounds like Daddy passed the theology test.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Very Expensive House."
It's amazing how little kids figure out what we big kids tend to forget or don't ever get. Our grandson; he got it there. If you've asked Jesus to come into your life and be your personal Savior, you are "Jesus' house." Which is going to guide, or should guide, a lot of the choices you make.
One of the Bible's most radical truths is spelled out today in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. In a world filled with massive temples to many different gods, Paul says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
Wow! If you know Jesus, that body of yours - whatever you or other people may think of it, it's a temple where God Himself lives! I saw a teenager once with a shirt that simply said, "Property of God." That's the truth! Imagine how it might change things if every believer had that indelibly stamped on their forehead "property of God." Some couples wouldn't be messing around with each other the way they are if they remembered they were messing around with God's property. We'd think twice about some of the garbage we put in our body; some of the junk we allow ourselves to watch or listen to if we realized that we're dragging trash into the "property of God."
The pagans of old? Oh, they knew that you dared not pollute, or abuse, or dishonor the place where they believed their god lived. But the one true God really does live in you and me if we belong to Jesus. And He comes in in the form of the Holy Spirit. Notice, that's Holy Spirit. Who must be saying to some of us, "What are you doing bringing that stuff into the temple of Almighty God?!"
In a sense, you drag God into everything you do with your body. It's not your body to do what you please with, to drink what you want, eat what you want, watch what you want, listen to what you want. You don't eat what you want, do what feels good with it, put poison into it, and use it for things God hates. It's God's temple!
This house of yours was bought at a very expensive price; in fact, the highest price ever paid - the life of the sinless Son of God. And now you've invited Him to move into this house that He paid for with His life. Treat your body like what it really is. Like the shirt said, like the Bible says, it's the property of God!
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.