Max Lucado Daily: DON’T GIVE UP YOUR JOY - January 16, 2023
On his thirtieth wedding anniversary, a friend shared the secret of their happy marriage. “Early on, my wife suggested that she would make all the small decisions and would come to me for all the major ones. All these years have passed, and we haven’t had one major decision.” Facetious, for sure, yet there is wisdom in acknowledging the relatively small number of major decisions in life. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and you won’t sweat much at all.
James 1:19 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” During the next few days you’ll be tested. Your husband is going to blow his nose like a foghorn. Your wife is going to take her half of the garage in the middle. But don’t give up your joy—or theirs—over something that’s not worth sweating.
Song of Solomon 1
The Song—best of all songs—Solomon’s song!
The Woman
2-3 Kiss me—full on the mouth!
Yes! For your love is better than wine,
headier than your aromatic oils.
The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook.
No wonder everyone loves to say your name!
4 Take me away with you! Let’s run off together!
An elopement with my King-Lover!
We’ll celebrate, we’ll sing,
we’ll make great music.
Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine.
Everyone loves you—of course! And why not?
5-6 I am weathered but still elegant,
oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem,
Weather-darkened like Kedar desert tents,
time-softened like Solomon’s Temple hangings.
Don’t look down on me because I’m dark,
darkened by the sun’s harsh rays.
My brothers ridiculed me and sent me to work in the fields.
They made me care for the face of the earth,
but I had no time to care for my own face.
7 Tell me where you’re working
—I love you so much—
Tell me where you’re tending your flocks,
where you let them rest at noontime.
Why should I be the one left out,
outside the orbit of your tender care?
The Man
8 If you can’t find me, loveliest of all women,
it’s all right. Stay with your flocks.
Lead your lambs to good pasture.
Stay with your shepherd neighbors.
9-11 You remind me of Pharaoh’s
well-groomed and satiny mares.
Pendant earrings line the elegance of your cheeks;
strands of jewels illumine the curve of your throat.
I’m making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry
that will mark and accent your beauty.
The Woman
12-14 When my King-Lover lay down beside me,
my fragrance filled the room.
His head resting between my breasts—
the head of my lover was a sachet of sweet myrrh.
My beloved is a bouquet of wildflowers
picked just for me from the fields of En Gedi.
The Man
15 Oh, my dear friend! You’re so beautiful!
And your eyes so beautiful—like doves!
The Woman
16-17 And you, my dear lover—you’re so handsome!
And the bed we share is like a forest glen.
We enjoy a canopy of cedars
enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 16, 2023
Today's Scripture
Isaiah 58:6–12
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
Insight
The reference to fasting in Isaiah 58:6 is God’s response to an accusation the people had made against Him. They asked, “Why have we fasted, . . . and you have not seen it?” (v. 3). They expected God to respond to their fasting, but He saw it as a lifeless formality. “You do as you please and exploit all your workers. . . . You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high” (vv. 3–4). God wanted them to seek Him in true humility and to treat others fairly and compassionately—especially the needy (v. 7). By: Tim Gustafson
Be Filled
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6
The horrific assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. happened at the height of the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. But just four days later, his widow Coretta Scott King courageously took her husband’s place in leading a peaceful protest march. Coretta had a deep passion for justice and was a fierce champion of many causes.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). We know that someday God will come to deliver justice and right every wrong, but until that time, we have the opportunity to participate in making God’s justice a reality on earth, just like Coretta did. Isaiah 58 paints a vivid picture of what God calls His people to do: loose the chains of injustice . . . set the oppressed free . . . share your food with the hungry . . . provide the poor wanderer with shelter . . . clothe [the naked], . . . and [do not] turn away [from those who need help]” (vv. 6–7). Seeking justice for the oppressed and the marginalized is one way our lives point back to God. Isaiah writes that His people seeking justice is like the light of dawn and results in healing for them as well as for others (v. 8).
Today, may God help us cultivate a hunger for His righteousness here on earth. As we seek justice His way and in His power, the Bible says we’ll be satisfied. By: Karen Pimpo
Reflect & Pray
What’s one injustice that draws your attention? How could you take a step toward doing what’s just and right today?
Give me a hunger for justice, God. Help me be a part of Your work in doing what’s right.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 16, 2023
The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" —Isaiah 6:8
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
Bible in a Year: Genesis 39-40; Matthew 11
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 16, 2023
NOT A LOT OF ANSWERS BUT PLENTY OF GUARANTEES - #9396
Little Mark was at that stage. He was about three years old, the son of our friends. He was cute...until he would start asking all those questions! Guess what his favorite one was? (I'll bet you'll know!) "Why? Why?"
I only see him occasionally, and the last time I saw him back then I could notice his father across the room with this amused smile. It was as if he was telling me, "Hey, it's your turn, Ron. I get this all the time. 'Why, Daddy?'" We might say to his father, "Well, he'll outgrow it." But in fact, we haven't even outgrown asking "Why?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Not a Lot of Answers, But Plenty of Guarantees."
Our word for today from the Word of God. We're in the familiar words of 1 Corinthians 10:13. "No temptation..." it says. Which, by the way, in the original Greek word also means trial or testing. "No temptation (or trial, or testing) has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted (or tested or tried) He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
Now, I find nowhere in scripture a promise of answers to our persistent question, "Why, Daddy?" When trouble comes we say, "Why is this happening, Father?" God's tapestry is way too complex to understand with only earth eyes. I don't know what trouble or trial you might be struggling with right now, and I sure don't know why. But I do know four guarantees that God gives you in the middle of that struggle.
Number one: never past the breaking point. We just read it. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. He knows your limits. He'll take you to the breaking point (yeah, been there) to increase your spiritual weight-lifting strength; to increase your faith; to make you more of an emotional winner and champion. But He'll never take you past the breaking point. That's guaranteed.
Number two: never without God's signature. Look at what happened with Job. Job was suffering all kinds of things, he must have said, "Why, Daddy? Why is all this happening?" Now, we know this; the Devil had to get God's permission before he could touch Job. It's still that way today. If there's a trial in your life, it has been Father-filtered. God has signed it before it got to you. He said, "This could make you more like Jesus or I wouldn't let it come into your life." Never without God's signature.
The third guarantee: never without a hope door. It looks like there's no way out, but this says God will always provide a way out. You can't see one, but God has supernatural deliverances that you've never even thought about.
And the fourth guarantee, He guarantees never without His presence. That wonderful verse in Isaiah 43 says, "When you pass through the fire, I will be with you."
Corrie ten Boom had terrible experiences in a German concentration camp. She lost her family there. They were there because of helping to save Jews in the WWII. She said, "There is no pit so deep but God's love is deeper still." If you're a child of God who is full of questions about "why," your Father understands that. You may not get the answer to that question this side of heaven. But your Father's guaranteed: Never past the breaking point, never without His signature, never without a hope door, and never without His presence.
By the way, it might be that you've been weathering life's "why's" and storms and troubles because God is trying to get your attention, to help you get to the point where you will begin a personal relationship with Him and experiencing His love; the love that caused His Son to die on the cross for you. You could begin a relationship with Him today and never go through a dark valley alone again.
Our website is there to show you how - ANewStory.com. For He has made this promise: "I will never leave you. I will never forsake you."