Max Lucado Daily: Do You Want to Get Well? - May 9, 2022
On that particular day at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus was drawn to the main character of this miracle. John chapter five, verses five through seven read like this: “When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’ ‘I can’t, sir,’ the man said, ‘for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up…’” What an odd question to ask a sick person. Why would Jesus pose such a question? The man was thirty-eight years as an invalid. The duration of the condition prompted Jesus to ask, “Would you like to get well?”
Getting well means getting up, getting a job, getting on with life. Do you really want to be healed? That’s the question Jesus asked then. That’s the question Jesus asks all of us. Do you want to get well? Remember my friend, you are never alone.
Judges 5
That day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
2
When they let down their hair in Israel,
they let it blow wild in the wind.
The people volunteered with abandon,
bless God!
3
Hear O kings! Listen O princes!
To God, yes to God, I’ll sing,
Make music to God,
to the God of Israel.
4-5
God, when you left Seir,
marched across the fields of Edom,
Earth quaked, yes, the skies poured rain,
oh, the clouds made rivers.
Mountains leapt before God, the Sinai God,
before God, the God of Israel.
6-8
In the time of Shamgar son of Anath,
and in the time of Jael,
Public roads were abandoned,
travelers went by backroads.
Warriors became fat and sloppy,
no fight left in them.
Then you, Deborah, rose up;
you got up, a mother in Israel.
God chose new leaders,
who then fought at the gates.
And not a shield or spear to be seen
among the forty companies of Israel.
9
Lift your hearts high, O Israel,
with abandon, volunteering yourselves with the people—bless God!
* * *
10-11
You who ride on prize donkeys
comfortably mounted on blankets
And you who walk down the roads,
ponder, attend!
Gather at the town well
and listen to them sing,
Chanting the tale of God’s victories,
his victories accomplished in Israel.
Then the people of God
went down to the city gates.
12
Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
On your feet, Barak!
Take your prisoners, son of Abinoam!
* * *
13-18
Then the remnant went down to greet the brave ones.
The people of God joined the mighty ones.
The captains from Ephraim came to the valley,
behind you, Benjamin, with your troops.
Captains marched down from Makir,
from Zebulun high-ranking leaders came down.
Issachar’s princes rallied to Deborah,
Issachar stood fast with Barak,
backing him up on the field of battle.
But in Reuben’s divisions there was much second-guessing.
Why all those campfire discussions?
Diverted and distracted,
Reuben’s divisions couldn’t make up their minds.
Gilead played it safe across the Jordan,
and Dan, why did he go off sailing?
Asher kept his distance on the seacoast,
safe and secure in his harbors.
But Zebulun risked life and limb, defied death,
as did Naphtali on the battle heights.
19-23
The kings came, they fought,
the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach they fought, at Megiddo’s brook,
but they took no silver, no plunder.
The stars in the sky joined the fight,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
The torrent Kishon swept them away,
the torrent attacked them, the torrent Kishon.
Oh, you’ll stomp on the necks of the strong!
Then the hoofs of the horses pounded,
charging, stampeding stallions.
“Curse Meroz,” says God’s angel.
“Curse, double curse, its people,
Because they didn’t come when God needed them,
didn’t rally to God’s side with valiant fighters.”
* * *
24-27
Most blessed of all women is Jael,
wife of Heber the Kenite,
most blessed of homemaking women.
He asked for water,
she brought milk;
In a handsome bowl,
she offered cream.
She grabbed a tent peg in her left hand,
with her right hand she seized a hammer.
She hammered Sisera, she smashed his head,
she drove a hole through his temple.
He slumped at her feet. He fell. He sprawled.
He slumped at her feet. He fell.
Slumped. Fallen. Dead.
* * *
28-30
Sisera’s mother waited at the window,
a weary, anxious watch.
“What’s keeping his chariot?
What delays his chariot’s rumble?”
The wisest of her ladies-in-waiting answers
with calm, reassuring words,
“Don’t you think they’re busy at plunder,
dividing up the loot?
A girl, maybe two girls,
for each man,
And for Sisera a bright silk shirt,
a prize, fancy silk shirt!
And a colorful scarf—make it two scarves—
to grace the neck of the plunderer.”
* * *
31
Thus may all God’s enemies perish,
while his lovers be like the unclouded sun.
The land was quiet for forty years.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 09, 2022
From the Shadows to the Substance
6–7 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
8–10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.
11–15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation ritual you’re after, you’ve already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross.
Insight
In Colossians 2:6–13, Paul highlights the idea of fullness. In verse 9, he uses the word pleroma, which refers to filling to capacity, to describe the extent to which Christ exemplifies and demonstrates deity. There’s no part of Jesus in which God doesn’t dwell; He’s fully God (see Colossians 1:15–20; Hebrews 1:3).
Conversely, in Colossians 2:10, Paul uses the verb pleroo to describe our being brought to fullness in Christ. Rather than fullness being something we have, it’s something that’s done to us and in us; we’re completed in Jesus. This word is often used to describe the fulfillment of prophecies about Christ—they were fulfilled—giving the word the sense of completion or accomplishment. By: J.R. Hudberg
The Sunflower Battle
In Christ you have been brought to fullness.
Colossians 2:10
The deer in our neighborhood and I have two different opinions about sunflowers. When I plant sunflowers each spring, I’m looking forward to the beauty of their blooms. My deer friends, however, don’t care about the finished product. They simply want to chew the stems and leaves until there’s nothing left. It’s an annual summertime battle as I try to see the sunflowers to maturity before my four-hoofed neighbors devour them. Sometimes I win; sometimes they win.
When we think about our lives as believers in Jesus, it’s easy to see a similar battle being waged between us and our enemy—Satan. Our goal is continual growth leading to spiritual maturity that helps our lives stand out for God’s honor. The devil wants to devour our faith and keep us from growing. But Jesus has dominion over “every power” and can bring us “to fullness” (Colossians 2:10), which means He makes us “complete.” Christ’s victory on the cross allows us to stand out in the world like those beautiful sunflowers.
When Jesus nailed the “record of the charges against us” (the penalty for our sins) to the cross (v. 14 nlt), He destroyed the powers that controlled us. We became “rooted and built up” (v. 7) and made “alive with Christ” (v. 13). In Him we have the power (v. 10) to resist the enemy’s spiritual attacks and to flourish in Jesus—displaying a life of true beauty. By: Dave Branon
nibble away at your growing spiritual maturity? Why is it vital for you to call out to God when you experience spiritual attacks?
Loving God, make my life beautiful for You. Help me to resist the enemy through Your power because I can’t do it on my own. Thank You for Jesus’ death and resurrection—my source of hope, power, and courage.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 09, 2022
Reaching Beyond Our Grasp
Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint… —Proverbs 29:18
There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarely do anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “…I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.
Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?
“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]….” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption
Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 7-9; John 1:1-28
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 09, 2022
How You Can Make It The Rest Of The Way - #9216
There's something about the Olympics that's just larger than life, and there are those images of past Olympic performances we'll never forget. One of those happened in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Derek Redmond was representing Great Britain in the 400-meter event. Unfortunately, he went down on the backstretch with a torn right hamstring. And the medical attendants started to approach him, but he managed to fight his way to his feet. Maybe you remember seeing this. He set out hopping around the track, desperately trying to finish the race. When he reached the stretch, a large man in a T-shirt came out of the stands, and literally threw aside a security guard, and ran to the injured runner, and hugged him. It was Jim Redmond, Derek's father. Derek was weeping in excruciating pain, and his Dad said, "'Derek, you don't have to do this." To which Derek said, "Yes, I do." And Jim Redmond said, "OK then, we're going to finish this together!" And they did. They had to fight off security men. The son's head was sometimes buried on his father's shoulder. But they stayed in Derek's lane all the way to the end - as the crowd stood and cheered and even wept.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "How You Can Make It The Rest Of The Way."
The other day I got one of those phone calls that make you feel like you've been kicked in the stomach. A good friend called to tell us that his teenage son had died from injuries that he had received in a traffic accident. He asked me to speak at the funeral where, by the grace of God, some of his son's friends actually gave their hearts to Christ.
Five minutes before my friend called, I'd been reading in Isaiah 46. In light of the devastating blow that had just hit that family, I had to share Isaiah 46:3-4 with my friend. They are our word for today from the Word of God. "...I have upheld [you] since you were conceived, and have carried you since your birth...I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Through all the pain of the funeral and its aftermath, I watched this Heavenly Father come down to the field where my friends were in so much pain, and keep His promise to sustain them.
It may be that right now you're struggling to finish. You were running OK, but now you're hurting, you're limping, you're wounded, maybe disillusioned. You're burning out, you're wearing out, and you feel like dropping out. You look down the track at the ground you've still got to cover, and you wonder if you can possibly make it feeling like this. It hurts so bad, you're so depleted, and it's tempting to give up your calling, or your marriage, your commitment, your loved one, your dream.
But someone very strong has left the stands to join you on the field. He's your Heavenly Father who loves you passionately and unconditionally. And His arm is around you. God the Father is hugging His wounded child. After all, He did say, He is a "very present help in time of trouble" (Psalm 46:1). He knows you can't finish the race alone. Listen to Him as He says, "My child, we're going to finish this together."
But you literally may not have the strength or the spirit to even walk another step. That's why His promise is so precious, "I have made you and I will carry you." When a child can walk no further, what does he say, "Daddy, carry me." That's what God's waiting for you to say. That worn out child can go farther and faster in his father's arms than he could ever go on his own feet. So can you - in your Heavenly Father's arms.
You can finish the race you started, not with your resources, but because your Almighty Father is saying, "We're going to finish this together!"
