Max Lucado Daily: CHOOSING WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT - February 10, 2023
I remember receiving an invitation to speak at a church in the Midwest. I turned it down. If I’d gone, I would have had the attention of a great number of people for an hour. The opportunity to speak about Jesus to some people who didn’t know him.
Is a Tuesday evening at home with three children and a spouse more important than preaching to an audience? I decided to make a list of what I’d lose by saying no to my family one night. I wouldn’t have been there to hold Andrea when her finger got slammed in the door. I wouldn’t have been there to answer Jenna’s question: “Daddy what’s a handicapped person?” I would have missed Jenna telling the story of Jesus on the cross during our family devotional.
There are a hundred speakers who could have addressed that crowd, but my girls have just one daddy! I think I made the right choice.
Ecclesiastes 4
Slow Suicide
Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet—the tears of the victims, no one to comfort them; the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive. But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth.
4 Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.
5 The fool sits back and takes it easy,
His sloth is slow suicide.
6 One handful of peaceful repose
Is better than two fistfuls of worried work—
More spitting into the wind.
Why Am I Working Like a Dog?
7-8 I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.
9-10 It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!
11 Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
12 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
* * *
13-16 A poor child with some wisdom is better off than an old but foolish king who doesn’t know which end is up. I saw a youth just like this start with nothing and go from rags to riches, and I saw everyone rally to the rule of this young successor to the king. Even so, the excitement died quickly, the throngs of people soon lost interest. Can’t you see it’s only smoke? And spitting into the wind?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 10, 2023
Today's Scripture
Psalm 91:1
You who sit down in the High God’s presence,
spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”
That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you’re perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm.
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
drop like flies right and left,
no harm will even graze you.
You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God’s your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can’t get close to you,
harm can’t get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they’ll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path.
Insight
Psalm 91:11–12 is among the many Old Testament psalms quoted in the New Testament. When Jesus was tempted in Jerusalem, the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, . . . throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’ ” (Luke 4:9–11). Psalm 91 is indeed a song about God’s protection, but the verses Satan quoted were misapplied. What the devil did amounted to abuse of Scripture. His quote was meant to tempt Jesus to test God by putting Himself in harm’s way. But rather than foolishly test God, Jesus would trust the One who declared Him to be the “Son, whom I love” (Luke 3:22) all the way to the cross. By: Arthur Jackson
Come Home to God
He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Psalm 91:2
One early evening while I was jogging near a construction site in our neighborhood, a skinny, dirty kitten meowed at me plaintively and followed me home. Today, Mickey is a healthy, handsome adult cat, enjoying a comfortable life in our household and deeply loved by my family. Whenever I jog on the road where I found him, I often think, Thank You, God. Mickey was spared from living on the streets. He has a home now.
Psalm 91 speaks of those who “[dwell] in the shelter of the Most High” (v. 1), making their home with God. The Hebrew word for dwells here means “to remain, to stay permanently.” As we remain in Him, He helps us live according to His wisdom and to love Him above all (v. 14; John 15:10). God promises us the comfort of being with Him for eternity, as well as the security of His being with us through earthly hardship. Although trouble may come, we can rest in His sovereignty, wisdom, and love, and in His promises to protect and deliver us.
When we make God our refuge, we live “in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). No trouble can touch us except that which His infinite wisdom and love allow. This is the safety of God as our home.
By: Karen Huang
Reflect & Pray
What does being home in God mean? How would your response to hardship change if you chose to live in the shelter of the Most High?
Heavenly Father, thank You for the home I have in You.
Learn more about what it means to live in union with Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 10, 2023
Is Your Ability to See God Blinded?
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things… —Isaiah 40:26
The people of God in Isaiah’s time had blinded their minds’ ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our blinded thinking to visualize it.
The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see has been blinded, don’t look back on your own experiences, but look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has been blinding your thinking. Wake up and accept the ridicule that Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts and your eyes to God.
One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power of visualization is what God gives a saint so that he can go beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationships he never before experienced.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 8-10; Matthew 25:31-46
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 10, 2023
MORE VALUABLE THAN YOU COULD IMAGINE - #9415
Some years ago I had an opportunity to be at the famous art museum in Paris called "The Louvre." Well, if you haven't had French, you could say The Louvre, but that would be gauche. As I stared at these tremendous masterpieces, I actually became overwhelmed with emotion.
I mean, all of a sudden I came around a corner, and I saw something I hadn't seen all day - special lighting, security guards. It was the most crowded spot I had seen all day. Well, I walked up to a painting there, and I'll bet you could guess what it was - the Mona Lisa. In fact, if you've only heard of one painting, you've probably heard of little Miss Mona Lisa. There she was, kind of leaping out of the canvas in da Vinci's masterpiece, and she was smiling at me. Now, what if I walked up to the Mona Lisa and decided I didn't like the Mona Lisa And I might say, "This painting is dumb!" Well, if I did that, who am I insulting?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "More Valuable Than You Could Imagine."
Our word for today from the Word of God - great verse - Ephesians 2:10. "We are God's workmanship." You know, when each of our grandchildren has been born I've actually held them in my arms and those are the first words I spoke to them. "You are God's workmanship." So this is about them; it's about you. "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do." This verse is saying that God did something really special, really unique when He designed you. You're wired by God for assignments He's prepared long before you were born. No one's ever been created like you to do what He's put you on earth to do.
He's given you the strong points that you're going to need for what you're here for. You're just the right build for it, you were born in the right place for it, you have the right background for it, and you're blessed with just the right spiritual equipment. Maybe He's given you some great radar for people, or an ability to really listen, or the ability to organize, or communicate, or analyze.
And then there are things that you don't have. Well, guess what? You don't need them. Maybe you know someone who has a gift you wish you had. They need it for their work; apparently you don't need it for yours! You have everything you need. So you can honestly say, "Everything I need, I have. And what I don't have, I don't need. The weaknesses, the struggles of your life - they're God's tools to soften and sensitize you for the very people He's planned for you to touch.
Let's get back to the Mona Lisa. If I say, "I don't like that painting," who am I putting down? The painting? No, Leonardo da Vinci. I'm insulting the painter. Maybe you've been down on yourself, maybe for a long time, maybe for years. You say, "Well, at least I'm humble. I don't like me very much." That's not humility. That's an insult to the One whose workmanship you are! When you criticize you, you're criticizing the One who created you.
Of course, we should be down on the sin that we allow to devalue us, but we should be grateful for the basic person God made us to be. You're God's masterpiece. He only does masterpieces, no matter what you've been called, no matter how you've been treated, no matter how you've failed. He does masterpieces. So, be careful about comparing yourself to someone else or putting yourself down. After all, you don't want to be guilty of insulting your own personal artist.
It may be that one of the reasons, you say, "Well, man, I just don't feel like I'm worth that much." Could it be that there's a wall between you and the One who gave you your worth? The Bible says, "You were created by Him and for Him." It took Jesus dying on the cross and then coming back from His grave to go through all that to take away the sin that has stained the beautiful creation God made you and me to be. He'd love to bring you into His family today and let you begin to feel the love and the worth that He built into you from the day you were born.
I'd love to help you begin that relationship. That's why we have our website. It's ANewStory.com. Would you go check it out? Experience for yourself the love of the One who thinks you are worth so much - He died for you.
