Max Lucado Daily: TURNING CHAOS INTO CALM - September 27, 2022
Anxiety. The emotion is not a sign of weakness, immaturity, or demon possession. It is simply the result of living in a fast-changing, challenging world. Anxiety is not a sign of weakness, but anxiety does weaken us. Yet help is here. The Holy Spirit is the calming presence of God in the world today.
His first act in earthly history was to turn chaos into calm. “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2 NKJV). The inaugural activity of the Holy Spirit was to hover over a frenzied world. Before God created the world, the Spirit of God calmed the world.
Anxiety. The emotion is not a sign of weakness, immaturity, or demon possession. It is simply the result of living in a fast-changing, challenging world. Anxiety is not a sign of weakness, but anxiety does weaken us. Yet help is here. The Holy Spirit is the calming presence of God in the world today.
His first act in earthly history was to turn chaos into calm. “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2 NKJV). The inaugural activity of the Holy Spirit was to hover over a frenzied world. Before God created the world, the Spirit of God calmed the world.
Psalm 13
Long enough, God—
you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
long enough. Long enough
I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
have looked down their noses at me.
3-4 Take a good look at me, God, my God;
I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
or laugh when I fall on my face.
5-6 I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—
I’m celebrating your rescue.
I’m singing at the top of my lungs,
I’m so full of answered prayers.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Today's Scripture
Psalm 90:12–17
Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!
Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—
and treat your servants with kindness for a change.
Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.
Make up for the bad times with some good times;
we’ve seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
Let your servants see what you’re best at—
the ways you rule and bless your children.
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!
Insight
The superscription of Psalm 90 says that it’s “A prayer of Moses the man of God.” The description “man of God” is a term used some seventy-five times in the Old Testament to refer to one who’s a spokesman for God. Therefore, the term is used for the many prophets who ministered to the Israelites (see Judges 13:6; 1 Samuel 2:27; 1 Kings 12:22; 13:1), including Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 1:9; 4:16). As a title of honor, it’s applied often to Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1; Joshua 14:6; 1 Chronicles 23:14; 2 Chronicles 30:16; Ezra 3:2) and David (2 Chronicles 8:14; Nehemiah 12:24, 36). That Psalm 90 is a song written by Moses (around 1526–1406 bc) makes it the oldest of the 150 psalms. Besides this song, Moses also wrote “The Song at the Sea” (Exodus 15:1–18) and “The Song of Moses” (Deuteronomy 31:19; 32:1–43).
By: K. T. Sim
God’s Help for Our Future
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14
According to psychologist Meg Jay, our minds tend to think about our future selves similarly to how we think about complete strangers. Why? It’s probably due to what’s sometimes called the “empathy gap.” It can be hard to empathize and care for people we don’t know personally—even future versions of ourselves. So in her work, Jay tries to help young people imagine their future selves and take steps to care for them. This includes working out actionable plans for who they will one day be—paving the way for them to pursue their dreams and to continue to thrive.
In Psalm 90, we’re invited to see our lives not just in the present, but as a whole—to ask God to help us “number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (v. 12). Remembering that our time on earth is limited can remind us of our desperate need to rely on God. We need His help to learn how to find satisfaction and joy—not just now, but “all our days” (v. 14). We need His help to learn to think not just of ourselves, but of future generations (v. 16). And we need His help to serve Him with the time we’ve been given—as He establishes the work of our hands and hearts (v. 17).
By: Monica La Rose
Reflect & Pray
How might you grow in taking care of your future self? How does keeping the bigger picture of your life in view help you to better serve others?
Dear God, thank You for the gift of life. Help me to cherish it with the time I’ve been given. Thank You that when my walk with You on earth is over, I can look forward to an eternity of fellowship with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
The “Go” of Renunciation
…someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go." —Luke 9:57
Our Lord’s attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, “for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). We would have said, “I can’t imagine why He lost the opportunity of winning that man! Imagine being so cold to him and turning him away so discouraged!” Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God. Our Lord’s answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of “what was in man.” If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.
Luke 9:58. These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him. And He says, “…the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Luke 9:59. This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father. We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost.
Luke 9:61. The person who says, “Lord, I will follow You, but…,” is the person who is intensely ready to go, but never goes. This man had reservations about going. The exacting call of Jesus has no room for good-byes; good-byes, as we often use them, are pagan, not Christian, because they divert us from the call. Once the call of God comes to you, start going and never stop.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God engineers circumstances to see what we will do. Will we be the children of our Father in heaven, or will we go back again to the meaner, common-sense attitude? Will we stake all and stand true to Him? “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The crown of life means I shall see that my Lord has got the victory after all, even in me. The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 530 L
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 3-4; Galatians 6
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
GOD'S MAGNIFICENT MAGNET - #9317
When we were living in New Jersey, boy, Giants Stadium - it was a mecca in northern New Jersey. At that time, 70,000 people. before the new stadium was built, were... I mean it's bigger now. But, boy, that's a lot of people descending on the Giants football game; cars clogging every artery anywhere near the stadium. And I was one of those crazy people sometimes! All across the New York area, countless others did nothing that afternoon but watch television to see what was going on there at the Meadowlands. It was like that stadium had a giant magnet inside it, with the power to pull multitudes of people to focus on one place and one event.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Magnificent Magnet."
For 2,000 years, there's been a magnet that has captured the hearts of millions of people, pulling people from every generation, every background, every corner of the world to one man. That man is Jesus Christ, and that magnet is an old rugged cross on a hill called Skull Hill, just outside the gates of Jerusalem. Even in our day, one of Hollywood's great blockbuster movies was "The Passion of the Christ," a vivid portrayal of the death of Jesus; the power of that cross to still move millions of people.
That should come as no surprise really. Jesus said it would happen before He ever died. In John 12:32-33, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus said, "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself." Then the Bible goes on to explain His meaning: "He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die." So, Jesus said, "If I am lifted up on a cross, I'll draw people to Myself."
And, sure enough, for twenty centuries, His love poured out on that tree, has melted the hardest hearts and brought hope to the most hopeless hearts. If many people aren't being drawn to Him, maybe it's because those of us who know Him have been lifting up something other than Jesus and His cross; like our church, our politics, our causes.
Since that brutal day on Skull Hill, a lot has happened. Churches have been built in Jesus' name, a religion bearing His name has spread across the world, rituals and creeds and ceremonies have grown up around His teachings. A lot of good, and too much that wasn't good, has been done in His name. But a trip back to that blood-stained cross strips away all the Christianity that has grown up around Christ over the centuries, and it takes us back to what the central issue is for you and me.
It's you; it's me standing at the foot of that cross, looking into the face of the Son of God. It's you or me watching the blood trickle down from a crown of thorns jammed into His forehead; the spikes in His hands and feet. Beyond all the religious things you've done in His name, beyond those Christians who may have hurt you or confused you, beyond all the facts about Jesus that you have in your head - there's that man dying on that cross. And there's you, one of the people He's dying for, to pay for every wrong thing you've ever done. Your eternity will not be decided by what you do with Christianity. It will be decided by what you do with Christ.
This very day, I invite you to walk with me up Skull Hill, to stand there and say the two words that are the difference between heaven and hell, "for me." Maybe you've missed that decisive step of actually giving yourself to the Man who died for you, of abandoning your trust in anything else to make it with God and you put all your trust in Jesus. Tell Him today, "Jesus, you died for me. I can trust you. I'm Yours." And you won't just be believing in Jesus. You'll finally belong to Him.
If that's what you want, I invite you to visit our website. I've got a very simple explanation there of how to get started with Jesus. It's ANewStory.com. That's the web address.
On the day you stand before God, there's only one thing He's going to ask you. "What did you do with My Son and His death for you on that cross?" Please, get that settled today.