Max Lucado Daily: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37 NASB).
Jesus spoke these words on an October day in a crowded Jerusalem. People had packed the streets for the Feast of Tabernacles, an annual reenactment of the rock-giving-water miracle of Moses. “If anyone is thirsty.” Skin color does not matter. Income level is of no importance. There is only one qualification. “If anyone is thirsty.” All that is needed is an admission of thirst.
Who fails to meet this criterion? We are thirsty—thirsty to be happy, thirsty to have meaning, thirsty for answers and strength. Thirsty. Jesus was speaking in the midst of an extremely religious moment. Even so he invited, “Come to me!” Spiritual thirst is quenched only by Christ himself.
Psalm 38
Take a deep breath, God; calm down—
don’t be so hasty with your punishing rod.
Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood;
my backside stings from your discipline.
3-4 I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months
because of your accusation.
My bones are brittle as dry sticks
because of my sin.
I’m swamped by my bad behavior,
collapsed under an avalanche of guilt.
5-8 The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots
because I’ve lived so badly.
And now I’m flat on my face
feeling sorry for myself morning to night.
All my insides are on fire,
my body is a wreck.
I’m on my last legs; I’ve had it—
my life is a vomit of groans.
9-16 Lord, my longings are sitting in plain sight,
my groans an old story to you.
My heart’s about to break;
I’m a burned-out case.
Cataracts blind me to God and good;
old friends avoid me like the plague.
My cousins never visit,
my neighbors stab me in the back.
My competitors blacken my name,
devoutly they pray for my ruin.
But I’m deaf and mute to it all,
ears shut, mouth shut.
I don’t hear a word they say,
don’t speak a word in response.
What I do, God, is wait for you,
wait for my Lord, my God—you will answer!
I wait and pray so they won’t laugh me off,
won’t smugly strut off when I stumble.
17-20 I’m on the edge of losing it—
the pain in my gut keeps burning.
I’m ready to tell my story of failure,
I’m no longer smug in my sin.
My enemies are alive and in action,
a lynch mob after my neck.
I give out good and get back evil
from God-haters who can’t stand a God-lover.
21-22 Don’t dump me, God;
my God, don’t stand me up.
Hurry and help me;
I want some wide-open space in my life!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 24, 2022
Today's Scripture
1 Samuel 17:32 , 40–50
David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
Insight
Goliath considered it an insult to have David fight him because David was “little more than a boy” (1 Samuel 17:42). The Hebrew word translated “boy” means “a boy, from the age of infancy to adolescence.” It also has the connotation of status, one who was a lowly servant. Goliath was a highly respected warrior. King Saul highlighted this disparity when he told David, “You’re only a boy, and [Goliath has] been a man of war since his youth” (1 Samuel 17:33 nlt). Scholars estimate David would have been about fourteen or fifteen years old. By: K. T. Sim
Fleeing from Turkeys
David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
1 Samuel 17:48
Two wild turkeys stood in the country lane ahead. How close could I get? I wondered. I slowed my jog to a walk, then stopped. It worked. The turkeys walked toward me . . . and kept coming. In seconds, their heads were bobbing at my waist, then behind me. How sharp were those beaks? I ran away. They waddled after me before giving up the chase.
How quickly the tables had turned! The hunted had become the hunter when the turkeys seized the initiative. Foolishly, I had wondered if they were too dumb to be scared. I wasn’t about to be carelessly wounded by a bird, so I fled. From turkeys.
David didn’t seem dangerous, so Goliath taunted him to come near. “ ‘Come here,’ he said, ‘and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!’ ” (1 Samuel 17:44). David flipped the script when he seized the initiative. He ran toward Goliath, not because he was foolish but because he had confidence in God. He shouted, “This very day . . . the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel” (v. 46). Goliath was puzzled by this aggressive boy. What’s going on? he must have thought. Then it hit him. Right between the eyes.
It’s natural for small animals to run from people and shepherds to avoid giants. It’s natural for us to hide from our problems. Why settle for natural? Is there a God in Israel? Then, in His power, run toward the fight. By: Mike Wittmer
Reflect & Pray
What problem or person are you avoiding? How might you express confidence in God?
Father, whenever I’m afraid, remind me that Your Spirit is in me. Help me run in Your strength.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 24, 2022
The Proper Perspective
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ… —2 Corinthians 2:14
The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.
The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37).
“We are to God the fragrance of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 3-5; 1 Timothy 4
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 24, 2022
Thinking About When You're Gone - #9336
THINKING ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE GONE - #9336
Some years ago I saw that movie "Twister." It was hair-raising! Even for a guy with not much hair to raise. But I kept telling myself, "It's just a story. It's just special effects."
Well, some time ago, what happened to the Weather Channel's Mike Bettes while chasing the storm in El Reno, Oklahoma, it was not some computer-generated fantasy. No! The tornado they were chasing took an unexpected turn. It picked up their vehicle and threw it like 200 yards.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Thinking About When You're Gone."
The vehicle was flattened. Thankfully, Mike and his crew weren't; some scratches, a couple of broken bones - but amazingly alive. And now they were thinking about some things that are pretty easy to forget, which doesn't surprise me. I know the times that I've been hit hard and thrown around. They've been my wake-up calls: The medical crisis, the betrayal, the accident, the funeral. And in those terrifying moments inside a tornado - airborne - Mike Bettes said, "My life flashed before me; the faces of people."
When we're thinking clearly - like when we could lose it all - we know what our life really is. It's the people. Unfortunately, they often get crowded out while we're consumed with our projects, our possessions, our pleasure, chasing our goal; forgetting the people.
I was especially touched by one thing that storm-tossed storm chaser said about his near-death experience. He said, "I just saw my wife's face." Isn't that the face that we should always see in all our big choices? The people we love? Unobscured by all the other people that we need to help or want or want to impress. Like your husband or your wife, that's the only one you promised to love, charish, protect, listen to "till death do us part." So, he or she shouldn't have to wait in line while you take time for everybody else.
After his unnerving brush with death, Mike Bettes said he's rethinking his tornado strategy. He said they got too close to the danger. That's been tragically underscored by later news that three of those who died that day were storm chasers. When a storm is shaking our world, it's time to rethink if we're pushing the limits and wandering into some danger zone. Like that "innocent" flirtation at work that can blow up a family.
The growing debt that's got us precariously balanced on the edge of a financial cliff. Or that web of deceit that one day is going to entrap the deceiver.
"Tornado" moments are times to reassess, to ask questions you'd never otherwise ask about the relationships you're neglecting, about the risks you're taking, the priorities you're living by, the future you're facing. One storm-chasing survivor said, "It makes you think about your mortality." That's a good thing to think about. The things that will matter after you're gone should matter while you're here. So you live for things that will outlast you.
Our word for today from the Word of God is in James 4:14. It says, "your life...is a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." Which tells me I should be looking past my short little journey here to what's beyond my last heartbeat - eternity, which we need to be ready for; which we're not. God's told us what's on the other side. The Bible says, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). For everything we've ever done that was wrong in God's eyes. Which leaves me no hope of heaven, except one. If I know that somehow I won't face God's judgment. And, thank God, I know my sin has been erased by a sinless God because His Son, Jesus, took my judgment when He died on the cross. In the Bible's words, "We have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ" (Romans 5:9 - NLT).
My life here is a mist, but not my life after that. The Bible says, "There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1 - NLT). You know what? I do. There is no greater peace than knowing you are ready for eternity whenever it comes.
Don't you want to be sure about heaven? Don't you want to be ready for eternity and know you are? I invite you to join me, then, at ANewStory.com (our website). Find out how to be sure you belong to Jesus, and how to be sure of your eternal destination.