Max Lucado : O ONE HAS IMAGINED - December 29, 2022 Try this. Imagine a perfect world. Whatever that means to you, imagine it. Does that mean peace? Then envision absolute tranquility. Does a perfect world imply joy? Then create your highest happiness. Will a perfect world have love? Ponder a place where love has no bounds.
Whatever heaven means to you, imagine it. Get it firmly fixed in your mind. Delight in it. Dream about it. Long for it. And then smile as the Father reminds you from the apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:9: “No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” No one. No one has come close. Think of all the songs about heaven, all the artists’ portrayals. All the lessons preached, and poems written, and chapters drafted. When it comes to describing heaven, we are all happy failures.
Proverbs 19
Better the poor whose walk is blameless
than a fool whose lips are perverse.
2
Desire without knowledge is not good—
how much more will hasty feet miss the way!
3
A person’s own folly leads to their ruin,
yet their heart rages against the Lord.
4
Wealth attracts many friends,
but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.
5
A false witness will not go unpunished,
and whoever pours out lies will not go free.
6
Many curry favor with a ruler,
and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.
7
The poor are shunned by all their relatives—
how much more do their friends avoid them!
Though the poor pursue them with pleading,
they are nowhere to be found.[a]
8
The one who gets wisdom loves life;
the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.
9
A false witness will not go unpunished,
and whoever pours out lies will perish.
10
It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—
how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
11
A person’s wisdom yields patience;
it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
12
A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13
A foolish child is a father’s ruin,
and a quarrelsome wife is like
the constant dripping of a leaky roof.
14
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
15
Laziness brings on deep sleep,
and the shiftless go hungry.
16
Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life,
but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die.
17
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he will reward them for what they have done.
18
Discipline your children, for in that there is hope;
do not be a willing party to their death.
19
A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty;
rescue them, and you will have to do it again.
20
Listen to advice and accept discipline,
and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
21
Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
22
What a person desires is unfailing love[b];
better to be poor than a liar.
23
The fear of the Lord leads to life;
then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
24
A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he will not even bring it back to his mouth!
25
Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence;
rebuke the discerning, and they will gain knowledge.
26
Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother
is a child who brings shame and disgrace.
27
Stop listening to instruction, my son,
and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28
A corrupt witness mocks at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
29
Penalties are prepared for mockers,
and beatings for the backs of fools.
Our Daily Bread Devotional
Today's Scripture:
Matthew 10:1, 5–10, 16–20 (NIV)
10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.d 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.e 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heavenf has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,a drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your beltsg—10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.h
16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.n Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.o 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councilsp and be flogged in the synagogues.q 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kingsr as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.s At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Fathert speaking through you.
Insight
As Jesus sent out His twelve disciples, He gave them very clear directions: take your message to those who will listen and leave the homes of those who won’t (Matthew 10:13–15). Some scholars see a connection here to Matthew 25 where Jesus described how the nations will be judged—those who receive even the “least of these brothers and sisters of mine” will inherit eternal life (v. 40). Those who reject Jesus’ messengers reject Jesus and life itself. The message of hope is ours to carry to the world, and we hope and pray people will repent and believe; yet it’s their choice what they’ll do with it.
By: Jed Ostoich
Just As I Am
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority.
Matthew 10:1
The young woman couldn’t sleep. Having suffered with a physical disability for many years, she’d be center stage at a church bazaar the next day to raise funds for higher education. But I’m not worthy, Charlotte Elliott reasoned. Tossing and turning, she doubted her credentials, questioning every aspect of her spiritual life. Still restless the next day, she finally moved to a desk to pick up pen and paper to write down the words of the now classic hymn, “Just As I Am”:
“Just as I am, without one plea, / But that Thy blood was shed for me, / And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, / O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
Her words, written in 1835, express how Jesus called His disciples to come and serve Him. Not because they were ready. They weren’t. But because He authorized them—just as they were. A ragtag group, his team of twelve included a tax collector, a zealot, two overly ambitious brothers (see Mark 10:35–37), and Judas Iscariot “who betrayed him” (Matthew 10:4). Still, He gave them authority to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons” (v. 8)—all without taking any money, luggage, extra shirt or sandals, or even a walking stick with them (vv. 9–10).
“I am sending you,” He said (v. 16), and He was enough. For each of us who say yes to Him, He still is.
By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What’s your current situation or status in life? What doubts have you expressed about your readiness to be used by God?
Jesus, bid me to come to You, fully dependent on Your grace and power to make a difference.
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Deserter or Disciple?
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. —John 6:66
When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must “walk in the light” of that vision (1 John 1:7). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t “walk in the light” of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the “heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) will make you a slave to ideas and views that are completely foreign to Jesus Christ. Don’t look at someone else and say, “Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why can’t I?” You have to “walk in the light” of the vision that has been given to you. Don’t compare yourself with others or judge them— that is between God and them. When you find that one of your favorite and strongly held views clashes with the “heavenly vision,” do not begin to debate it. If you do, a sense of property and personal right will emerge in you— things on which Jesus placed no value. He was against these things as being the root of everything foreign to Himself— “…for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). If we don’t see and understand this, it is because we are ignoring the underlying principles of our Lord’s teaching.
Our tendency is to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we had when God revealed His will to us. But if a New Testament standard is revealed to us by the light of God, and we don’t try to measure up, or even feel inclined to do so, then we begin to backslide. It means your conscience does not respond to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“I have chosen you” (John 15:16). Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you. My Utmost for His Highest, October 25, 837 R
A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft
WHEN LOVE LETS YOU DOWN - #9384
When I was a teenager, you could tell a girl was going steady by the fuzzy ring around her neck. And when our son started going with a girl, she just got his jacket; football jacket - the one he earned with blood, sweat, tears, and my money. But you could tell this girl was going with my son; the jacket had his name on it. I have to tell you though, it was slightly amusing. See, my son was a big lineman. She swam in that coat! And she wasn't the only one. We had a lot of girls in our school who were dating athletes, and they wore their jackets as a symbol, "Hey, I belong to him. He's mine." But it didn't look that great on most of them. No. You know, wearing what a man gives you for security may not be the best fit for you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Love Lets You Down."
Our word for today from the Word of God. We're in Genesis 29. Let me give you some background. Jacob has worked seven years to earn Rachel's hand. He didn't realize until he lifted the veil on his wedding night he'd been deceived. He had married the sister, Leah, who was not Miss America or Miss Israel. So he had to work seven more years to get Rachel, the one he really wanted. Now he's got two wives. The Bible says, "Rachel he loved. Leah was unloved by him." But Leah, like every woman, had a very deep love hunger.
I read now from our word for today from the Word of God, Genesis 29:31. "When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, He opened her womb. But Rachel was barren. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, 'It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.'" Interesting isn't it? She's looking to this man for the love and the identity she needs and she's coming up empty.
Well, then, she finally has another baby. And it says in verse 34, "Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, 'Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have born him three sons.' So he was named Levi. Again the man does not give her what she needs. Finally in verse 35, "She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, 'This time I will praise the Lord.'" See, Leah had hoped to find her identity in Jacob's love. She didn't get it. But finally, after three times of counting on a baby to secure her man's attention, she refocuses her love hunger from Jacob to Jehovah; from her husband to her Heavenly Father.
There's many a woman who has been disappointed by a man. There's frustration, there's bitterness. If you're a woman, maybe you've been hurt by a father whose love or approval you could never seem to win, or maybe a boyfriend or a husband has let you down like Jacob did with Leah. Or maybe you've been abused, betrayed, or abandoned. It could be you've had positive relationships with the men in your life but they still haven't been able to be all you need.
Leah, like so many women, was looking at the wrong place for identity. No woman was ever meant to derive her identity and worth from the approval of a man. She said, "I'm going to turn to the Lord." Maybe that's what He's asking of you. The jacket that reflected some of my son's identity didn't fit the woman in his life. She was never meant to find her identity in being his girl. Every woman is headed for disappointment and chronic insecurity if she's trying to define herself by some man in her world.
It's a liberating day when you discover that no man could do for your worth what the Lord can do. He loved Leah; her man didn't. He gave her His divine blessing when her man wouldn't give his. Learn from Leah. Don't waste time trying to find your identity in the fickle, fragile love or approval of people. Look beyond them to the Lord. Start drawing on Him for all you need. You're a unique masterpiece creation of a loving God. In fact, you were worth dying for. What you get from any man is just a bonus.
Maybe you've never experienced the love of Jesus for yourself. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." Our website, I think, will help you get started with Him. It's ANewStory.com. Be sure that you bring your love hunger to the only One who will never disappoint you. He is your Savior. He is your Shepherd. He is Jesus Christ.