Max Lucado Daily: GOD USES COMMON THINGS - November 2, 2022
Luke 17:33 says, “Those who try to keep their lives will lose them. But those who give up their lives will save them.”
Heaven may have a shrine to honor God’s uncommon use of the common. If so, it’s a place you don’t want to miss. See Rahab’s rope, David’s sling, and Samson’s jawbone. Wrap your hand around the staff that split the sea, and sniff the ointment that soothed Jesus’ skin and lifted his heart.
I don’t know if these items will be there. But I’m sure of one thing – the people who used them, they’ll be there. The risk takers: Rahab who sheltered the spy. David, slinging a stone, and Samson, swinging a bone. Mary at Jesus’ feet. What she gave cost much, but somehow she knew what he would give would cost more.
Psalm 58
Is this any way to run a country?
Is there an honest politician in the house?
Behind the scenes you weave webs of deceit,
behind closed doors you make deals with demons.
3-5 The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle;
their first words out of the womb are lies.
Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison,
drips from their forked tongues—
Deaf to threats, deaf to charm,
decades of wax built up in their ears.
6-9 God, smash their teeth to bits,
leave them toothless tigers.
Let their lives be buckets of water spilled,
all that’s left, a damp stain in the sand.
Let them be trampled grass
worn smooth by the traffic.
Let them dissolve into snail slime,
be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight.
Before what they cook up is half-done, God,
throw it out with the garbage!
10-11 The righteous will call up their friends
when they see the wicked get their reward,
Serve up their blood in goblets
as they toast one another,
Everyone cheering, “It’s worth it to play by the rules!
God’s handing out trophies and tending the earth!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, November 02, 2022
Today's Scripture
Psalm 19:7–14
The revelation of God is whole
and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
down to the nth degree.
10 God’s Word is better than a diamond,
better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,
better than red, ripe strawberries.
11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
Keep me from stupid sins,
from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
Insight
In Psalm 19, using the poetic device of Hebrew parallelism, David listed six things “of the Lord” that guide us: the law, the statutes, the precepts, the commands, the fear, and the decrees. Most of these might appear to be synonymous, but each has a slightly different connotation. Each “of the Lord” phrase is followed by a statement describing its individual properties or benefits. In total, they refresh the soul, make us wise, give joy, give light, endure forever, and exhibit God’s righteousness (vv. 7–9). Most distinctive is “the fear of the Lord” (v. 9), which is a healthy and proper reverence for God.
By: Tim Gustafson
Grasping God’s Word
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy. Psalm 19:7
A rugged, cast-iron ring stood strong against the harsh Minnesota winter as it hung on the doorframe of my great uncle’s old farmhouse. More than a hundred feet away was another ring, firmly fixed to the dairy barn. When there was a blizzard, my uncle would attach a line between both rings so he could find the path between the house and the barn. Keeping a firm grip on the line kept him from losing his way in the blinding snow.
My uncle’s use of a safety line in a snowstorm reminds me of how David used lines of Hebrew poetry to trace how God’s wisdom guides us through life and guards us against sin and error: “The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:9–11).
A firm grasp of the truths of Scripture informed by God’s Spirit working in our hearts keeps us from losing our way and helps us make decisions that honor God and others. The Bible warns us against wandering from God and shows us the way home. It tells us of the priceless love of our Savior and the blessings that await all who place their faith in Him. Scripture is a lifeline! May God help us cling to it always.
By: James Banks
Reflect & Pray
What promises from Scripture give you hope? In what ways will you hold on to its truths today?
Heavenly Father, help me to treasure Your teaching today. Thank You for the rich, deep blessings of Scripture!
Learn more about New Testament Basics.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 02, 2022
Obedience or Independence?
If you love Me, keep My commandments. —John 14:15
Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 27-29; Titus 3
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 02, 2022
GO-BEDIENCE - #9343
Our sons' room was upstairs, off the beaten path where my wife and I tended to travel in our house. But usually when we did venture into Boys World, we were in for a shock. Let's just say the boys had this unlimited capacity to make a mess and this uncanny ability to live in one without even noticing the mess. (Did I mention to you they're guys?) So, often the stern command would reverberate in the halls of our home: "Clean your room!" The boys seldom disagreed. Usually they would respond with a compliant, "We will." And, I think they really intended to...maybe. They knew it was fundamental to the privileges they wanted, so they went along with our cleaning orders. But did that mean the disaster area got un-disastered? Usually, no. The boys didn't disagree with what they were supposed to do; they just somehow didn't get around to doing it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about (here's a new word) "Go-bedience."
Now, obedience isn't obedience just because you agree with what you're supposed to do. There's no obedience until you go and do it. It's go-bedience!
I wonder if there's something your Heavenly Father's been telling you to do through His Word or through the inner tug of the Holy Spirit and you've been saying, "I will, Father. I agree." You know He's right. You intend to obey, but you're still sitting where you were. As surely as our sons were still disobeying until they did what we said, you're still disobeying God however politely. It's still disobedience because there's no such thing as passive obedience. If you're not moving on it, you're not obeying.
Which leads us to a powerful example of what obeying really means. It's from the life of Abraham as highlighted in our word for today from the Word of God from Hebrews 11:8. It says, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."
God had summoned Abraham to leave his family, his comfort - his comfort zone actually - to obey Him and go to a future about which God supplied almost no details. Now Abraham could have said, "Okay, Lord. I'll go." But it wasn't agreement that launched him into God's amazing adventure. It was going! It was doing it without knowing what was coming, which is what God has asked of so many of His children all through the Bible, and all through my life.
Which is what God may be asking you to do right now, to go without knowing how it's all going to work. Maybe your Lord's asking you to start something, or to leave something or someone, or maybe to stop doing something, or to confront something, or give something, or tell someone about the Savior who died for them.
But you're delaying your obedience. You're waiting until there's more facts, or until more of the risks are eliminated. You want to analyze the situation a little more, to get more signs. But you're not obeying! It's not obedience until it's go-bedience! And faith obedience steps out, not because you know where or you know how, but because you know Who. You know Who you are following. You're following an all-powerful Lord who will never do you wrong! Would anyone who loved you enough to die for you ever do you wrong?
It's one thing to agree with what your Father wants you to do. It's a whole other thing to start doing it. Until you do, you're just disobeying your Father. The old song is right. "Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."