Max Lucado Daily: JESUS HAS FELT LIKE YOU DO - February 1, 2023
The next time your world goes from calm to chaos—ponder this: Jesus knows how you feel. His eyes have grown weary. His heart has grown heavy. He knows how you feel.
You’re no doubt convinced Jesus is acquainted with sorrow and has wrestled with fear. Most people accept that. But can God relate to the hassles and headaches of your life? For some reason this is harder to believe.
Listen to Hebrews 4:15, “. . .he Himself has shared fully in all our experience of temptation, except that He never sinned.” The writer of Hebrews anticipates our objections. God, it’s easy for you up there. You don’t know how hard it is from down here.
Listen again. He has shared fully. Not nearly. Not to a large degree. But entirely! In all our experience. Every hurt. Every ache. Why? So that when you hurt, you’ll go to Him who knows how you feel!
1 Kings 9
After Solomon had completed building The Temple of God and his own palace, all the projects he had set his heart on doing, God appeared to Solomon again, just as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
3-5 And God said to him, “I’ve listened to and received all your prayers, your ever-so-passionate prayers. I’ve sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel, make it a sure thing on a solid foundation. The same guarantee I gave David your father I’m giving you: ‘You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.’
6-9 “But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off: I’ll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I’ve just sanctified to honor my Name. And Israel will become nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world. And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; visitors will shake their heads, saying, ‘Whatever happened here? What’s the story behind these ruins?’ Then they’ll be told, ‘The people who used to live here betrayed their God, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them. That’s what’s behind this God-visited devastation.’”
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10-12 At the end of twenty years, having built the two buildings, The Temple of God and his personal palace, Solomon rewarded Hiram king of Tyre with a gift of twenty villages in the district of Galilee. Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and cypress and gold that he had wanted. But when Hiram left Tyre to look over the villages that Solomon had given him, he didn’t like what he saw.
13-14 He said, “What kind of reward is this, my friend? Twenty backwoods hick towns!” People still refer to them that way. This is all Hiram got from Solomon in exchange for four and a half tons of gold!
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15 This is the work record of the labor force that King Solomon raised to build The Temple of God, his palace, the defense complex (the Millo), the Jerusalem wall, and the fortified cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
16-17 Pharaoh king of Egypt had come up and captured Gezer, torched it, and killed all the Canaanites who lived there. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. So Solomon rebuilt Gezer.
17-19 He also built Lower Beth Horon, Baalath, and Tamar in the desert, back-country storehouse villages, and villages for chariots and horses. Solomon built widely and extravagantly in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and wherever he fancied.
20-23 The remnants from the original inhabitants of the land (Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—all non-Israelites), survivors of the holy wars, were rounded up by Solomon for his gangs of slave labor, a policy still in effect. But true Israelites were not treated this way; they were used in his army and administration—government leaders and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. They were also the project managers responsible for Solomon’s building operations—550 of them in charge of the workforce.
24 It was after Pharaoh’s daughter ceremonially ascended from the City of David and took up residence in the house built especially for her that Solomon built the defense complex (the Millo).
25 Three times a year Solomon worshiped at the Altar of God, sacrificing Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings, and burning incense in the presence of God. Everything that had to do with The Temple he did generously and well; he didn’t skimp.
26-28 And ships! King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, located near Elath in Edom on the Red Sea. Hiram sent seaworthy sailors to assist Solomon’s men with the fleet. They embarked for Ophir, brought back sixteen tons of gold, and presented it to King Solomon.
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Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, February 01, 2023
Today's Scripture
Matthew 5:1–12
You’re Blessed
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9 “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Insight
Matthew records five major sections of Jesus’ teaching (Matthew 5–7; 10; 13; 18; 24–25). Matthew 5–7 is known as the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus taught it when he was “on a mountainside” (5:1) in Galilee (4:23). In this sermon, Christ teaches what it takes to be His disciple. First, He describes the character (5:3–12) and then the conduct (5:13–7:29) of a believer in Jesus. Matthew 5:3–12 is known as the Beatitudes, so named because the Latin word for “blessed” or “happy” is beatus. One author calls them the “Beautiful Attitudes.” Each of the eight beatitudes opens with the word blessed (makarios), which is translated “happy” in some versions. But makarios has the basic meaning of “being approved by God” or “receiving God’s favor.” Those who’ve received God’s approval and favor are indeed blessed and have cause to be contented and joyful. By: K. T. Sim
Blessing in the Tears
Blessed are those who mourn. Matthew 5:4
I received an email from a young man in England, a son who explained that his father (only sixty-three) was in the hospital in critical condition, hanging on to life. Though we’d never met, his dad’s work and mine shared many intersections. The son, trying to cheer his father, asked me to send a video message of encouragement and prayer. Deeply moved, I recorded a short message and a prayer for healing. I was told that his dad watched the video and gave a hearty thumbs-up. Sadly, a couple days later, I received another email telling me that he had died. He held his wife’s hand as he took his final breath.
My heart broke. Such love, such devastation. The family lost a husband and father far too soon. Yet it’s surprising to hear Jesus insist that it’s precisely these grieving ones who are blessed: “Blessed are those who mourn,” Jesus says (Matthew 5:4). Jesus isn’t saying suffering and sorrow are good, but rather that God’s mercy and kindness pour over those who need it most. Those overcome by grief due to death or even their own sinfulness are most in need of God’s attention and consolation—and Jesus promises us “they will be comforted” (v. 4).
God steps toward us, His loved children (v. 9). He blesses us in our tears. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
What places do you encounter sorrow in your story and in others’ stories? How does Jesus’ promise of blessing alter how you view this grief?
Dear God, when I’m awash in grief and sorrow, please help me to experience Your blessing even in the tears.
Learn more about coping with loss.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 01, 2023
The Call of God
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel… —1 Corinthians 1:17
Paul states here that the call of God is to preach the gospel. But remember what Paul means by “the gospel,” namely, the reality of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are inclined to make sanctification the goal of our preaching. Paul refers to personal experiences only by way of illustration, never as the end of the matter. We are not commissioned to preach salvation or sanctification— we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (see John 12:32). It is an injustice to say that Jesus Christ labored in redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God. The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption. If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.
The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the gospel of God. He welcomed heartbreak, disillusionment, and tribulation for only one reason— these things kept him unmovable in his devotion to the gospel of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L
Bible in a Year: Exodus 27-28; Matthew 21:1-22
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 01, 2023
CHANGING THE TEMPERATURE IN OVERHEATED TIMES - #9408
It was really cold outside. It wasn't supposed to be cold inside. But when I awoke that morning, my nose felt like a puppy nose. It was cold - 45 degrees in the house! Turned out the problem wasn't the thermometer. No, that just reflected the temperature. It was the thermostat that sets the temperature.
If there was ever a time when our world and our country needed for the followers of Jesus to be thermostats, it's now. It's way too hot. So much anger. You know, yelling and disrespect.
We who bear Jesus' name? We can't afford to be thermometers in an environment like this. If we reflect this fierce and fractured temperature around us, we'll just give people another reason not to trust Jesus.
No issue that I may have is important enough for me to forget who I really am. Or to discredit the One who loves me most.
What I can't forget is that, first and foremost, "we are Christ's ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:20). So, as the Bible says, "whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17). In my texts, my conversations, my emails, my social media posts, my attitude. Folks can't see and hear Jesus. But they can see and hear me and judge my Jesus by me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Changing The Temperature In Overheated Times."
After an election, or when there's a medical controversy, whatever it is, some are grieving, some are seething, some are celebrating, some are stressing over the outcome. That's why, as one of Jesus' reps, I need to make a choice - that I'm going to bring the peace and the presence of Jesus into every situation and every conversation.
So, I've been thinking about what instructions I have from my King that will help me set a climate He'd be comfortable in. It boils down to five simple responsibilities for a "Jesus ambassador."
One...LOVE: His kind of love. The kind that loved us "while we were yet sinners" (Romans 5:8). It's unconditional. It's uncondemning. It's love that builds up and refuses to tear down or reciprocate. It's a choice. It's not a feeling. Not to treat you like you treated me. But to treat you like Jesus treats me.
If I get sucked into the spiral of hurtful words and inflamed opinions, I become a reason for someone to say, "See, they're just like us!" I can't do that because, as it says in our word for today from the Word of God in John 13:35, "this is how they will know you are My disciples, by your love." Whatever they give, I know what I have to give. I've got to give love like His.
Secondly...PRAY: No matter who leads a nation, no matter who's in charge, my orders are to pray for kings and all those in authority. This pleases God our Savior" the Bible says (1 Timothy 2:2-3). In the Throne Room of God, there are no political parties. Even if I don't vote for someone, I've got to pray for them. And to fervently pray, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
Thirdly...RESPECT: Peter said to represent Him with "gentleness and respect" and to "show proper respect to everyone" (1 Peter 3:15, 2:17). As someone made in God's image and for whom Christ died.
And then there's PARTICIPATE: In Jesus' day, you didn't get to vote on who would be emperor. Whatever our form of government, Jesus' orders remain: "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" (Mark 12:17). In the case of our country, we've got a democracy. So, I pay taxes. I do it to obey my King; my King of kings. And living in a democracy, where voices can be freely expressed, we vote and we abide by laws.
And there's one last word that's glue in these shattering times. TRUST: Even when things don't turn out the way we had hoped. You know, I guess you could spend just a lot of time dwelling on your disappointment. Or you could embrace the sovereignty of your King of kings. Which will lead you to ask that soul-lifting question - "How can God use this?"