Max Lucado Daily: A PART OF GOD’S PLAN - March 6, 2023
Our lives tend to be so scattered. Lives with no strategy, no goal, no defining priority. We are easily distracted by the small things and forget the big things.
God wants us to be just like Jesus and have focused hearts. Romans 8:28 (TLB) says, “We know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.” The first step for focusing your heart is to ask the question Am I fitting into God’s plan? If God’s goal is the salvation of the world, then my goal should be the same.
Regardless of what you don’t know about your future, one thing is certain: you are intended to contribute to the good plan of God, to tell others about the God who loves them and longs to bring them home.
Acts 13:26-52
“Dear brothers and sisters, children of Abraham, and friends of God, this message of salvation has been precisely targeted to you. The citizens and rulers in Jerusalem didn’t recognize who he was and condemned him to death. They couldn’t find a good reason, but demanded that Pilate execute him anyway. They did just what the prophets said they would do, but had no idea they were following to the letter the script of the prophets, even though those same prophets are read every Sabbath in their meeting places.
29-31 “After they had done everything the prophets said they would do, they took him down from the cross and buried him. And then God raised him from death. There is no disputing that—he appeared over and over again many times and places to those who had known him well in the Galilean years, and these same people continue to give witness that he is alive.
32-35 “And we’re here today bringing you good news: the Message that what God promised the fathers has come true for the children—for us! He raised Jesus, exactly as described in the second Psalm:
My Son! My very own Son!
Today I celebrate you!
“When he raised him from the dead, he did it for good—no going back to that rot and decay for him. That’s why Isaiah said, ‘I’ll give to all of you David’s guaranteed blessings.’ So also the psalmist’s prayer: ‘You’ll never let your Holy One see death’s rot and decay.’
36-39 “David, of course, having completed the work God set out for him, has been in the grave, dust and ashes, a long time now. But the One God raised up—no dust and ashes for him! I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.
40-41 “Don’t take this lightly. You don’t want the prophet’s revelation to describe you:
Watch out, cynics;
Look hard—watch your world fall to pieces.
I’m doing something right before your eyes
That you won’t believe, though it’s staring you in the face.”
42-43 When the service was over, Paul and Barnabas were invited back to preach again the next Sabbath. As the meeting broke up, a good many Jews and converts to Judaism went along with Paul and Barnabas, who urged them in long conversations to stick with what they’d started, this living in and by God’s grace.
44-45 When the next Sabbath came around, practically the whole city showed up to hear the Word of God. Some of the Jews, seeing the crowds, went wild with jealousy and tore into Paul, contradicting everything he was saying, making an ugly scene.
46-47 But Paul and Barnabas didn’t back down. Standing their ground they said, “It was required that God’s Word be spoken first of all to you, the Jews. But seeing that you want no part of it—you’ve made it quite clear that you have no taste or inclination for eternal life—the door is open to all the outsiders. And we’re on our way through it, following orders, doing what God commanded when he said,
I’ve set you up
as light to all nations.
You’ll proclaim salvation
to the four winds and seven seas!”
48-49 When the non-Jewish outsiders heard this, they could hardly believe their good fortune. All who were marked out for real life put their trust in God—they honored God’s Word by receiving that life. And this Message of salvation spread like wildfire all through the region.
50-52 Some of the Jews convinced the most respected women and leading men of the town that their precious way of life was about to be destroyed. Alarmed, they turned on Paul and Barnabas and forced them to leave. Paul and Barnabas shrugged their shoulders and went on to the next town, Iconium, brimming with joy and the Holy Spirit, two happy disciples.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 06, 2023
Today's Scripture
Genesis 21:9–19
One day Sarah saw the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, poking fun at her son Isaac. She told Abraham, “Get rid of this slave woman and her son. No child of this slave is going to share inheritance with my son Isaac!”
11-13 The matter gave great pain to Abraham—after all, Ishmael was his son. But God spoke to Abraham, “Don’t feel badly about the boy and your maid. Do whatever Sarah tells you. Your descendants will come through Isaac. Regarding your maid’s son, be assured that I’ll also develop a great nation from him—he’s your son, too.”
14-16 Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, “I can’t watch my son die.” As she sat, she broke into sobs.
17-18 Meanwhile, God heard the boy crying. The angel of God called from Heaven to Hagar, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the boy and knows the fix he’s in. Up now; go get the boy. Hold him tight. I’m going to make of him a great nation.”
19 Just then God opened her eyes. She looked. She saw a well of water. She went to it and filled her canteen and gave the boy a long, cool drink.
Insight
In ancient times, the offspring of servants could be considered as one’s own child. Sarai (Sarah) had intended to raise a family through the offspring of her servant Hagar (see Genesis 16:1–2). When Ishmael was born to Hagar and Abraham, Abraham was eighty-six years old (v. 16). Sarah didn’t give birth to Isaac for another thirteen or fourteen years when Abraham was one hundred years old (21:5). Today’s passage (vv. 9–19) describes how Sarah treated Ishmael and Hagar on the day Isaac was weaned. The reader might wonder what the intervening years had been like between Sarah and Ishmael.
By: J.R. Hudberg
All Alone?
God heard the boy crying. Genesis 21:17
Sue’s family was falling apart before her eyes. Her husband had suddenly left the home, and she and her children were confused and angry. She asked him to go for marriage counseling with her, but he wouldn’t because he claimed the problems were hers. Panic and hopelessness set in when she realized he might never come back. Would she be able to care for herself and her children alone?
Hagar, a servant of Abraham and Sarah, faced those thoughts as well. Impatient for God to give them a son as promised (Genesis 12, 15), Sarah gave Hagar to her husband, and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael (16:1–4, 15). However, when God fulfilled His promise and Sarah gave birth to Isaac, family tensions erupted such that Abraham sent Hagar away with their son Ishmael with just some water and food (21:–21). Can you imagine her desperation? Soon they ran out of provisions in the desert. Not knowing what to do and not wanting to see her son die, Hagar put Ishmael under a bush and walked a distance away. They both began to sob. But “God heard the boy crying” (v. 17). He heard their cries, provided for their needs, and was with them.
Times of desperation when we feel all alone cause us to cry out to God. What a comfort to know that during those moments and throughout our lives, He hears us, provides for us, and stays near to us. By: Anne Cetas
Reflect & Pray
How has God provided for you when you’ve felt alone? How have you responded to Him?
I’m grateful, God, that I never really walk alone. Help me in my desperation.
Learn more about communicating with God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 06, 2023
Taking the Next Step
…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses. —2 Corinthians 6:4
When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ inJohn 13:1-17.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham. The Highest Good, 548 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 10:1-31
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 06, 2023
DON'T MISS THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR - #9431
A college student was supposed to pick me up at this small town airport, and I was going to go to his college to speak. He had my press photo in his hand; just one of those typical head shots...you know, you have to send out to newspapers sometimes. I didn't, of course, have a photo of him. So who would you expect to find who in that airport? It wasn't exactly LaGuardia or Kennedy or Newark Airport. There were only two gates.
My flight came in and I kept waiting for someone to come up and identify themselves. But pretty soon, everybody cleared out and there were only two people left. There was me and there was this college student walking back and forth looking at a photo in his hand, looking at me, looking at the photo, looking at me..
Well, I knew his name was Jeff. I had talked to him on the phone. I said, "Is that you, Jeff?" He looked at the picture again and said, "Is that you, Ron?" I said, "It sure is!" He said, "Oh, in the picture you look tall." What? I have a tall head? I guess I just got the wrong body. Well now, anyone who wants a picture in advance, they ought to recognize the man when He comes. Right?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Miss the One You've Been Looking For."
Our word for today from the Word of God actually comes from Matthew 1:21. It's part of the Christmas Story, but it's good all year. And the angel is speaking to Joseph. "'She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said to the prophet; 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, (That's actually a quote from the book of Isaiah.) and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us.'"
God says here "When My Son comes He'll be the fulfillment of a prophecy." He will, in fact, be the fulfillment of scores of prophecies. For two thousand years God had been sending ahead a picture of what His Son would look like when He came to earth. It's sort of like an inverted pyramid. It starts out very broad and comes down to a very narrowly focused picture in advance of what the Messiah will look like.
In Genesis 3:15, way back in the Garden of Eden, God says the answer to sin would be a descendent of Eve. In other words, a man would come. Then in Genesis 12:15, He says what nation He'll come from. Of all the nations on earth, it says that the Messiah's blessings will come through the Nation of Israel. Then in Genesis 49, God narrows it down a little more; gives us a little more focused photograph. He says what tribe He will come from out of the twelve tribes of Israel...look for Him to come from the tribe of Judah.
Now in Isaiah 11:1 He narrows it down to the family. He says He'll come out of the family of David. Isaiah 7, the method - a virgin birth. How could you miss it? Micah 5:2 - He says, "Now, here's the place. He'll be born in a little village called Bethlehem." Isaiah 53 describes His death. The book of Zachariah even tells the number of pieces of silver He'll be betrayed for.
They had the picture in their hands back then and they didn't recognize Him. John 1:11, "He came to His own and His own did not receive Him." You say, "How could they miss Him?" Well how can we? We don't just have prophecies, we've got history. We know He walked out of His grave under His own power.
He's identified himself to you as the one you've been looking for. Could it be you're still withholding your allegiance? Could it be you're circling Him like that fellow did at the airport with me; checking out who He is? Well, sometime you've got to do something with Jesus. John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God."
Maybe sometime for you is today. You don't need evidence now, you need faith. Don't circle Jesus any more. Come to Him and say, "Lord, you're the one I've spent a lifetime searching for."
I would invite you to join me at our website. It's called ANewStory.com. It could be the beginning of your new story. If you'll tell Jesus, "I'm Yours," you will finally be home in a relationship you were created for.
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