Max Lucado Daily: Measure Yourself by the Cross - March 15, 2022
Do a simple exercise with me. Measure your life against just these four standards from the Ten Commandments. “You must not steal.” Have you ever stolen anything? A paper clip? A parking space? You thief. “You must not lie.” Those who say they haven’t just did. “You must not commit adultery.” Jesus said if you look at a woman with lust, you’ve committed adultery in your heart (Matthew 5:28 NIV). “You must not murder.” Before you claim innocence, Jesus said, “Anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder” (Matthew 5:22 MSG).
Jesus made his position clear. “Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14 NCV). So where does that leave us? Well it leaves us drawing hope from 1 Corinthians 15:3: Christ died for our sins. In place of, on behalf of! So don’t measure yourself by keeping commandments. Measure yourself by the cross.
Deuteronomy 23
No eunuch is to enter the congregation of God.
2 No bastard is to enter the congregation of God, even to the tenth generation, nor any of his children.
3-6 No Ammonite or Moabite is to enter the congregation of God, even to the tenth generation, nor any of his children, ever. Those nations didn’t treat you with hospitality on your travels out of Egypt, and on top of that they also hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Mesopotamia to curse you. God, your God, refused to listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing—how God, your God, loves you! Don’t even try to get along with them or do anything for them, ever.
7 But don’t spurn an Edomite; he’s your kin.
And don’t spurn an Egyptian; you were a foreigner in his land.
8 Children born to Edomites and Egyptians may enter the congregation of God in the third generation.
* * *
9-11 When you are camped out, at war with your enemies, be careful to keep yourself from anything ritually defiling. If one of your men has become ritually unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must go outside the camp and stay there until evening when he can wash himself, returning to the camp at sunset.
12-14 Mark out an area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourselves. Along with your weapons have a stick with you. After you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the stick and cover your excrement. God, your God, strolls through your camp; he’s present to deliver you and give you victory over your enemies. Keep your camp holy; don’t permit anything indecent or offensive in God’s eyes.
* * *
15-16 Don’t return a runaway slave to his master; he’s come to you for refuge. Let him live wherever he wishes within the protective gates of your city. Don’t take advantage of him.
17-18 No daughter of Israel is to become a sacred prostitute; and no son of Israel is to become a sacred prostitute. And don’t bring the fee of a sacred whore or the earnings of a priest-pimp to the house of God, your God, to pay for any vow—they are both an abomination to God, your God.
19-20 Don’t charge interest to your kinsmen on any loan: not for money or food or clothing or anything else that could earn interest. You may charge foreigners interest, but you may not charge your brothers interest; that way God, your God, will bless all the work that you take up and the land that you are entering to possess.
21-23 When you make a vow to God, your God, don’t put off keeping it; God, your God, expects you to keep it and if you don’t you’re guilty. But if you don’t make a vow in the first place, there’s no sin. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. Keep the vow you willingly vowed to God, your God. You promised it, so do it.
24-25 When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want until you’re full, but you may not put any in your bucket or bag. And when you walk through the ripe grain of your neighbor, you may pick the heads of grain, but you may not swing your sickle there.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Today's Scripture
Matthew 5:13–16
(NIV)
Salt and Light
13 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
14–16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
Insight
In the ancient world, with no refrigeration, salt’s most common use was to preserve food and keep it from spoiling. When Jesus said His followers were “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), He was calling them to stand as obstacles to the inevitable corruption in society.
Salt in Jesus’ day was often impure—coming from salt marshes where many impurities corrupted the important mineral. When those impurities dominated the salt used in preservation, the salt failed to do its job and the meat would spoil. Jesus’ challenge to His listeners was to avoid the very impurities they were tasked with preventing in the world around them.
Christ’s description of His faithful followers in the Sermon on the Mount challenges even believers today to live counter–culturally, staving off corruption in the world and living a life of purity and faith.
No Formula Needed
Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16
When Jen was young, her well-intentioned Sunday school teacher instructed the class in evangelism training, which included memorizing a series of verses and a formula for sharing the gospel. She and a friend nervously tried this out on another friend, fearful they’d forget an important verse or step. Jen doesn’t “remember if the evening ended in conversion [but guesses] it did not.” The approach seemed to be more about the formula than the person.
Now, years later, Jen and her husband are modeling for their own children a love for God and sharing their faith in a more inviting way. They understand the importance of teaching their children about God, the Bible, and a personal relationship with Jesus, but they’re doing so through a living, daily example of a love for God and the Scriptures. They’re demonstrating what it means to be the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and to reach out to others through kindness and hospitable words. Jen says, “We cannot impart words of life to others if we don’t possess them ourselves.” As she and her husband show kindness in their own lifestyle, they’re preparing their children “to invite others into their faith.”
We don’t need a formula to lead others to Jesus—what matters most is that a love for God compels and shines through us. As we live in and share His love, God draws others to know Him too. By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
How have you shared the good news with another? What was the result? What are some other ways you could share about Jesus?
Dear God, I want others to experience the loving relationship I have with You. Help me in my walk and talk to draw others to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
The Discipline of Dismay
As they followed they were afraid. —Mark 10:32
At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to forsake everything else and to throw ourselves before Him in a fearless statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar— “Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed” (Mark 10:32).
There is an aspect of Jesus that chills even a disciple’s heart to its depth and makes his entire spiritual life gasp for air. This unusual Person with His face set “like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7) is walking with great determination ahead of me, and He strikes terror right through me. He no longer seems to be my Counselor and Friend and has a point of view about which I know nothing. All I can do is stand and stare at Him in amazement. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.
Jesus Christ had to understand fully every sin and sorrow that human beings could experience, and that is what makes Him seem unfamiliar. When we see this aspect of Him, we realize we really don’t know Him. We don’t recognize even one characteristic of His life, and we don’t know how to begin to follow Him. He is far ahead of us, a Leader who seems totally unfamiliar, and we have no friendship with Him.
The discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see Isaiah 50:10-11). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
No one could have had a more sensitive love in human relationship than Jesus; and yet He says there are times when love to father and mother must be hatred in comparison to our love for Him. So Send I You, 1301 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 26-27; Mark 14:27-53
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
The Day After The End of The World - #9177
They call it the Mayan prophecy. Yeah, it was a few years ago. If people had been right about it, you wouldn't be listening to me right now. It was December 21, 2012. Yeah, they said years ago that was the day everybody was talking about as the predicted "end of the world." I'm guessing it didn't happen.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Day After the End of the World."
What was amazing was that a prophecy supposedly made by an ancient Indian tribe centuries ago (and actually a lot of scholars claim there was not even such a prediction), but it was taken so seriously by so many people. It was all over social media; people all over the place were talking about it. It was even all the buzz at our grandson's middle school.
This fascination with the end of the world - that's not anything new. History's full of dates, come and gone, set by would-be doomsday prophets. Good thing we're not living in Old Testament times. One wrong prediction proved you were a false prophet, and you got stoned to death.
There seems to be this strange sense, somewhere in our soul, that this world has an expiration date. And that sense is right. Because one day - on the day and in the way of God's choosing - the world as we know it will be done. God - the One who rules the future - says this in His book, "The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar...and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare....That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat" (2 Peter 3:10-12). Wow!
So, yes, one day this world as we know it will end. But you won't. No matter how or when this world ends. What matters for us is not when the planet's time runs out; it's when our time runs out. We're created in God's image, so we're creatures of eternity. Oh, our bodies are made to wear out (let's face it, they give us plenty of reminders of that!) - but our souls...oh, they're made to go on forever.
Whatever guesses people may float about what happens to our souls, only God knows. And in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, He says it's one of two destinations. One where, "He will be glorified in His holy people...and marveled at among all those who believed." And the other is where people will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power."
See, the destination isn't decided then. No, it's decided now, based on what we do with God's Son, Jesus, because of what He did for us. When He, according to the Bible, "carried our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). God says, "Nothing impure will ever enter" heaven (Revelation 21:27). So we can't go there with our sins of a lifetime. And only Jesus can forgive them, because only Jesus died for them.
The Bible says, "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." You know, at Christmas time, if you leave someone's Christmas gift unopened under the tree, don't blame them if you never get to enjoy it. They paid the price for it. You've got to reach out and make that gift yours. That's Just like what Jesus did for us on the cross. He paid the price, the awful price. See, we deserve the hell - the penalty for our sin. But you've got to reach out and make His gift yours.
End of the world? Not such a big deal. End of my time in this world? A very big deal. Next stop - appointment with Almighty God. There's nothing to fear about the end of life - about meeting God there - when you know every sin of your life has been forgiven by the One who died for them - His Son, Jesus.
You could get that settled even today. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. I'm pinning all my hopes on You." Go to our website and get the whole story. In fact, it's called ANewStory.com. You'll be ready for eternity whenever and however it comes.
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.