Max Lucado Daily: THE SPIRIT AS A FLOWING RIVER - October 21, 2022
Christianity is on the decline in our country. The number of believers has dropped twelve percent in the last decade. Major depression is on the rise. The increase is found in all age groups but is rising fastest among teens and young adults. The increase in suicide is alarming. According to the federal data on the US suicide rate, it is the highest it has been since World War II.
Yet we have this hope. Revival can come at any moment. At the right hour God will open the floodgate and release his Spirit like a flowing river into society. This was the promise of Jesus. “Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from that person’s heart’…Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit” (John 7:37-39 NCV).
John 11:30-57
The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, “Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33-34 When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, “Where did you put him?”
34-35 “Master, come and see,” they said. Now Jesus wept.
36 The Jews said, “Look how deeply he loved him.”
37 Others among them said, “Well, if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man.”
38-39 Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”
The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, “Master, by this time there’s a stench. He’s been dead four days!”
40 Jesus looked her in the eye. “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41-42 Then, to the others, “Go ahead, take away the stone.”
They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, “Father, I’m grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I’ve spoken so that they might believe that you sent me.”
43-44 Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.
Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him loose.”
The Man Who Creates God-Signs
45-48 That was a turning point for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him. But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. “What do we do now?” they asked. “This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have.”
49-52 Then one of them—it was Caiaphas, the designated Chief Priest that year—spoke up, “Don’t you know anything? Can’t you see that it’s to our advantage that one man dies for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed?” He didn’t say this of his own accord, but as Chief Priest that year he unwittingly prophesied that Jesus was about to die sacrificially for the nation, and not only for the nation but so that all God’s exile-scattered children might be gathered together into one people.
53-54 From that day on, they plotted to kill him. So Jesus no longer went out in public among the Jews. He withdrew into the country bordering the desert to a town called Ephraim and secluded himself there with his disciples.
55-56 The Jewish Passover was coming up. Crowds of people were making their way from the country up to Jerusalem to get themselves ready for the Feast. They were curious about Jesus. There was a lot of talk of him among those standing around in the Temple: “What do you think? Do you think he’ll show up at the Feast or not?”
57 Meanwhile, the high priests and Pharisees gave out the word that anyone who knew his whereabouts should inform them. They were all set to arrest him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 21, 2022
Today's Scripture
Obadiah 1:8–15
Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
Edom's Violence Against Jacob
10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
do not boast[a]
in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.
The Day of the Lord Is Near
15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.
Insight
The nation of Edom descended from Jacob’s brother Esau, who “despised” his rights as firstborn son of Isaac (Genesis 25:34). Even so, God told the Israelites, “Do not despise an Edomite, for the Edomites are related to you” (Deuteronomy 23:7). But Edom had a history of incivility toward Israel. During the exodus from Egypt, the Edomites denied the Israelites the right to pass peacefully through their land. And in the terrible story recorded in 1 Samuel, it was “Doeg the Edomite” who killed eighty-five of God’s priests when they assisted David during his flight from King Saul (1 Samuel 22:18–19). Their antagonistic and murderous treatment of the people of Israel had a long history.
By: Tim Gustafson
Choosing Compassion
You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune.
Obadiah 1:12
A five-minute montage of snow-related mishaps was the central piece to one episode of a TV show. Home videos of people skiing off rooftops, crashing into objects while tubing, and slipping on ice brought laughter and applause from the studio audience and people watching at home. The laughter seemed to be loudest when it appeared that the people who wiped out deserved it because of their own foolish behavior.
Funny home videos aren’t a bad thing, but they can reveal something about ourselves: we can be prone to laugh at or take advantage of the hardships of others. One such story is recorded in Obadiah about two rival nations, Israel and Edom. When God saw fit to punish Israel for their sin, Edom rejoiced. They took advantage of the Israelites, looted their cities, thwarted their escape, and supported their enemies (Obadiah 1:13–14). A word of warning came through the prophet Obadiah to Edom: “You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune,” for “the day of the Lord is near for all nations” (vv. 12, 15).
When we see the challenges or suffering of others, even if it seems they’ve brought it upon themselves, we must choose compassion over pride. We’re not in a position to judge others. Only God can do that. The kingdom of this world belongs to Him (v. 21)—He alone holds the power of justice and mercy.
By: Karen Pimpo
Reflect & Pray
How do you react to the hardships others face? What does a loving, merciful response look like?
Merciful God, forgive me for my feelings of self-righteousness. Thank You for Your justice and mercy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 21, 2022
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith… —Jude 20
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman— an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises— human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God— but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people— and this is not learned in five minutes.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We must keep ourselves in touch, not with theories, but with people, and never get out of touch with human beings, if we are going to use the word of God skilfully amongst them. Workmen of God, 1341 L
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 62-64; 1 Timothy 1
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 21, 2022
WHY YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO DRIFT - #9335
I knew about lighthouses. I never knew about lightships though, until I visited Nantucket, that charming old island that's about 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. In the harbor there. You now can tour the retired Lightship Nantucket. But before the development of modern navigational technology, the work of that ship actually saved a lot of lives. See, there are deadly shoals that extend south of Nantucket, and the main shipping lanes to New York City run right along the outer edge in what's called the Ambrose Channel. Now, for many decades, the Lightship Nantucket was stationed at the eastern approach to the channel - at what was called the "Times Square of the Atlantic." Well, she dared not leave her position there - because all ship navigation was fixed on that lightship. If the lightship moved, every ship would follow her - possibly to disaster.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why You Can't Afford to Drift."
Now, to put you and me in this picture, and believe me we're in it, we have to go to our word for today from the Word of God. In Matthew 5:16-18, Jesus tells us: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Now, you don't have to be a great theologian to get this message. If you belong to Jesus, you are a light for the people around you. Maybe it's really dark where you're the light. Well, that's OK. The darker the darkness gets, the more the light shows up. And it only takes a little light to make a big difference in a dark room. Now, here's the problem: if the light starts drifting, all the people who are watching your light will drift with you - possibly to disaster.
See, whether or not you realize it, there are people watching your light. Oh, maybe it's your child, your coworkers, a Christian brother or sister. It might be some family members, folks you minister with. And for any person in your world who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you are the lighthouse or the lightship that may be their only hope of finding their way to heaven. If the light fails, if the light drifts, they will sail right into an eternity you don't even want to think about.
For the sake of the people who are watching your light, you can't afford to drift into negativity, or criticism, or cynicism, or some rebellious attitude. They will follow you there. If you drift into selfishness, or carelessness about what you look at or listen to. If you drift into gossip, or discouragement, or compromise, it won't be just you going there. No, you're affecting other people's course every day. Don't lead them toward the rocks. You've got to hold your position. You're the light!
Maybe you've been covering up your light where you are. You never tell anyone what you know about Jesus Christ. Or maybe you've turned off your light by doing things that actually discredit your Jesus to those who are basing their opinion of Him on you. Paul said to one group, "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles (that's the unbelievers) because of you." (Romans 2:24) Don't let that be you. Don't be a reason that someone doesn't come to Jesus because of the contradictions in your life.
A drifting light could cost lives. If you go off on a little detour or take a timeout, you will drag others along with you. You are the light! Stay anchored in Jesus, and never stop pointing people to Him!