Max Lucado Daily: You Can Count on Him
I was seven years old. I’d had enough of my father’s rules and decided I could make it on my own, thank you very much. I got to the end of the alley and remembered I was hungry, so I went back home! Did Dad know of my insurrection? I suspect he did. Was I still his son? Apparently so. No one else was sitting in my place at the table.
Suppose someone had asked my father, “Mr. Lucado, your son says he has no need of a father. Do you still consider him your son?” What do you think my dad would have said? He considered himself my father even when I didn’t consider myself his son. His commitment to me was greater than my commitment to him. So is God’s. I can count on him to be in my corner no matter what! And you can too!
From Max on Life
Mark 13:1-20
Doomsday Deceivers
As he walked away from the Temple, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at that stonework! Those buildings!”
2 Jesus said, “You’re impressed by this grandiose architecture? There’s not a stone in the whole works that is not going to end up in a heap of rubble.”
3-4 Later, as he was sitting on Mount Olives in full view of the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew got him off by himself and asked, “Tell us, when is this going to happen? What sign will we get that things are coming to a head?”
5-8 Jesus began, “Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One.’ They will deceive a lot of people. When you hear of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history, and no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. But these things are nothing compared to what’s coming.
9-10 “And watch out! They’re going to drag you into court. And then it will go from bad to worse, dog-eat-dog, everyone at your throat because you carry my name. You’re placed there as sentinels to truth. The Message has to be preached all across the world.
11 “When they bring you, betrayed, into court, don’t worry about what you’ll say. When the time comes, say what’s on your heart—the Holy Spirit will make his witness in and through you.
12-13 “It’s going to be brother killing brother, father killing child, children killing parents. There’s no telling who will hate you because of me.
“Stay with it—that’s what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry; you’ll be saved.
Run for the Hills
14-18 “But be ready to run for it when you see the monster of desecration set up where it should never be. You who can read, make sure you understand what I’m talking about. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills; if you’re working in the yard, don’t go back to the house to get anything; if you’re out in the field, don’t go back to get your coat. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Hope and pray this won’t happen in the middle of winter.
19-20 “These are going to be hard days—nothing like it from the time God made the world right up to the present. And there’ll be nothing like it again. If he let the days of trouble run their course, nobody would make it. But because of God’s chosen people, those he personally chose, he has already intervened.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 02, 2022
Today's Scripture
Colossians 3:1–10
(NIV)
Living as Those Made Alive in Christ
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,u set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.v 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.w 3 For you died,x and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is youra life,y appears,z then you also will appear with him in glory.a
5 Put to death,b therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:c sexual immorality,d impurity, lust, evil desires and greed,e which is idolatry.f 6 Because of these, the wrath of Godg is coming.b 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.h 8 But now you must also rid yourselvesi of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander,j and filthy language from your lips.k 9 Do not lie to each other,l since you have taken off your old selfm with its practices 10 and have put on the new self,n which is being renewedo in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Insight
In Colossians 2, Paul established that we’ve “died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces [or basic principles] of this world” (v. 20). Then he asked these believers in Jesus, “Why do you keep on following the rules of this world” (v. 20 nlt). He’d noticed they were lapsing into a legalistic form of religion. Paul said, “These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion . . . . But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires” (v. 23 nlt).
In chapter 3, Paul turns our focus instead to Christ: “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is” (v. 1). We’re to “put to death . . . whatever belongs to [our] earthly nature,” that is, our sinful tendencies (vv. 5, 8–9). This may well include things the world would consider “religious.” Instead, we’re to be guided by the Holy Spirit—the only lasting way to change our behavior. By: Tim Gustafson
Fresh Start Effect
[Put] on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Colossians 3:10
When Bryony turned thirty, she was sad to still be in a sales job she’d never liked. She decided it was time to stop procrastinating and find a new career. For David, New Year’s Eve had him looking in the mirror vowing this would be the year he lost weight. And for James, it was watching another month pass without his angry outbursts decreasing. Next month, he promised himself, he would try harder.
If you’ve ever vowed to change at the start of a new month, new year, or a major birthday, you’re not alone. Researchers even have a name for it: the fresh start effect. They suggest that at calendar points like these we’re more prone to assess our lives and try putting our failures behind us to start over. Wanting to be better people, we long for a fresh start.
Faith in Jesus speaks powerfully to this longing, offering a vision of what our best selves can be (Colossians 3:12–14) and calling us to leave our past selves behind (vv. 5–9). It offers this change not by decisions and vows alone, but by divine power. When we believe in Jesus, we become new people, and God’s Spirit works in us to make us whole (v. 10; Titus 3:5).
Receiving salvation in Jesus is the ultimate fresh start. And it doesn’t need to wait for a special calendar date. Your new life can start right now. By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
How have you seen the fresh start effect at work in your life? What’s stopping you from receiving God’s gift of a new life now?
Jesus, I give up my own plans to follow Yours. Please give me a fresh start!
To gain a better understanding of the Bible this year.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 02, 2022
Will You Go Out Without Knowing?
He went out, not knowing where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8
Have you ever “gone out” in this way? If so, there is no logical answer possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the most difficult questions to answer in Christian work is, “What do you expect to do?” You don’t know what you are going to do. The only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually examine your attitude toward God to see if you are willing to “go out” in every area of your life, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in constant wonder, because you don’t know what God is going to do next. Each morning as you wake, there is a new opportunity to “go out,” building your confidence in God. “…do not worry about your life…nor about the body…” (Luke 12:22). In other words, don’t worry about the things that concerned you before you did “go out.”
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you “go out” in complete surrender to Him until you are not surprised one iota by anything He does?
Believe God is always the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him. Then think how unnecessary and disrespectful worry is! Let the attitude of your life be a continual willingness to “go out” in dependence upon God, and your life will have a sacred and inexpressible charm about it that is very satisfying to Jesus. You must learn to “go out” through your convictions, creeds, or experiences until you come to the point in your faith where there is nothing between yourself and God.
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: Genesis 4–6; Matthew 2
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.