Max Lucado Daily: EYES FIXED ON THE UNSEEN - February 14, 2023
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “We do not lose heart…for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.”
Hear what Paul called light and momentary. Not what I’d have called them, and I think you’ll agree: Imprisoned. Beaten. Stoned. Shipwrecked three times. In constant danger. Hungry and thirsty. Light and momentary troubles? How could Paul describe endless trials with that phrase? He tells us. He could see “an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
And you, you’re tired. Understandably so, rightfully so. You want to go on, but some days the road seems so long. God never said the journey would be easy, but he did say that the arrival would be worth it!
Ecclesiastes 7
Don’t Take Anything for Granted
A good reputation is better than a fat bank account.
Your death date tells more than your birth date.
2 You learn more at a funeral than at a feast—
After all, that’s where we’ll end up. We might discover
something from it.
3 Crying is better than laughing.
It blotches the face but it scours the heart.
4 Sages invest themselves in hurt and grieving.
Fools waste their lives in fun and games.
5 You’ll get more from the rebuke of a sage
Than from the song and dance of fools.
6 The giggles of fools are like the crackling of twigs
Under the cooking pot. And like smoke.
7 Brutality stupefies even the wise
And destroys the strongest heart.
8 Endings are better than beginnings.
Sticking to it is better than standing out.
9 Don’t be quick to fly off the handle.
Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.
10 Don’t always be asking, “Where are the good old days?”
Wise folks don’t ask questions like that.
11-12 Wisdom is better when it’s paired with money,
Especially if you get both while you’re still living.
Double protection: wisdom and wealth!
Plus this bonus: Wisdom energizes its owner.
13 Take a good look at God’s work.
Who could simplify and reduce Creation’s curves and angles
To a plain straight line?
14 On a good day, enjoy yourself;
On a bad day, examine your conscience.
God arranges for both kinds of days
So that we won’t take anything for granted.
Stay in Touch with Both Sides
15-17 I’ve seen it all in my brief and pointless life—here a good person cut down in the middle of doing good, there a bad person living a long life of sheer evil. So don’t knock yourself out being good, and don’t go overboard being wise. Believe me, you won’t get anything out of it. But don’t press your luck by being bad, either. And don’t be reckless. Why die needlessly?
18 It’s best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it.
19 Wisdom puts more strength in one wise person
Than ten strong men give to a city.
20 There’s not one totally good person on earth,
Not one who is truly pure and sinless.
21-22 Don’t eavesdrop on the conversation of others.
What if the gossip’s about you and you’d rather not hear it?
You’ve done that a few times, haven’t you—said things
Behind someone’s back you wouldn’t say to his face?
How to Interpret the Meaning of Life
23-25 I tested everything in my search for wisdom. I set out to be wise, but it was beyond me, far beyond me, and deep—oh so deep! Does anyone ever find it? I concentrated with all my might, studying and exploring and seeking wisdom—the meaning of life. I also wanted to identify evil and stupidity, foolishness and craziness.
26-29 One discovery: A woman can be a bitter pill to swallow, full of seductive scheming and grasping. The lucky escape her; the undiscerning get caught. At least this is my experience—what I, the Quester, have pieced together as I’ve tried to make sense of life. But the wisdom I’ve looked for I haven’t found. I didn’t find one man or woman in a thousand worth my while. Yet I did spot one ray of light in this murk: God made men and women true and upright; we’re the ones who’ve made a mess of things.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Today's Scripture
Isaiah 62:1–5
Look, Your Savior Comes!
Regarding Zion, I can’t keep my mouth shut,
regarding Jerusalem, I can’t hold my tongue,
Until her righteousness blazes down like the sun
and her salvation flames up like a torch.
Foreign countries will see your righteousness,
and world leaders your glory.
You’ll get a brand-new name
straight from the mouth of God.
You’ll be a stunning crown in the palm of God’s hand,
a jeweled gold cup held high in the hand of your God.
No more will anyone call you Rejected,
and your country will no more be called Ruined.
You’ll be called Hephzibah (My Delight),
and your land Beulah (Married),
Because God delights in you
and your land will be like a wedding celebration.
For as a young man marries his virgin bride,
so your builder marries you,
And as a bridegroom is happy in his bride,
so your God is happy with you.
Insight
After prophesying that God would use the Assyrians and the Babylonians to discipline His people for their idolatrous unfaithfulness (Isaiah 1–39), Isaiah comforted the Israelites with the promise that God would restore and bless them once the discipline was complete (chs. 40–66). In chapter 62, God speaks of the vindication and restoration of Jerusalem or Zion. God will personally make a grand spectacle of Jerusalem, so much so that the world “will be blinded by [its] glory” (vv. 2–3 nlt). Instead of being known as an abandoned and forsaken city, Jerusalem will be renowned as “Hephzibah” (v. 4), which the New Living Translation renders as “The City of God’s Delight,” and as “Beulah” (meaning “married”), rendered as “The Bride of God.” God presents Himself as the faithful and loving Builder and Bridegroom who will establish, cherish, and protect His beloved (v. 5). By: K. T. Sim
Rejoicing Love
As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. Isaiah 62:5
Brendan and Katie beamed at each other. Looking at the pure joy on their faces, you would have never guessed the difficult ways so many of their wedding plans had been dramatically altered due to COVID-19 restrictions. Even with only twenty-five family members present, joy and peace radiated from the two as they said their vows because of their love for each other and expressed their gratefulness for God’s love sustaining them.
The image of a bride and groom delighting over each other is the picture the prophet Isaiah painted to describe the type of delight and love God has for His people. In a beautifully poetic description of His promised deliverance, Isaiah reminded his readers that the salvation He offered them reflected the reality of living in a broken world—comfort for the brokenhearted, joy for those who mourn, and provision for the needs of His people (Isaiah 61:1–3). God offered help to His people because, just like a bride and groom celebrate their love for each other, “so will your God rejoice over you” (62:5).
It’s a remarkable truth that God delights in us and wants a relationship with us. Even when we struggle because of the effects of living in a broken world, we have a God who loves us, not begrudgingly, but with a rejoicing, lasting love that “endures forever” (Psalm 136:1). By: Lisa M. Samra
Reflect & Pray
What images remind you of God’s love? How does His rejoicing love bring you joy?
Loving God, thank You for rejoicing over me in love.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. —Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark…” — pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest. Disciples Indeed, 395 L
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 15-16; Matthew 27:1-26
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
CHARLIE BROWN VALENTINES - #9417
Poor ol' Charlie Brown; staring into his mailbox on Valentine's Day, hoping to find a Valentine. He never does. And when he yells "hello" into the mailbox, the only answer he gets back is his own echo. "Hello! Hello! Happy Valentine's Day!" Man, that's an oxymoron for Charlie, and for lots of real-life folks.
Like our friend Holly, for example, when she went through her first Valentine's Day a while back without Jack. It all happened so fast. He got the headaches, and then there was the emergency flight to better medical facilities, the hospital vigil and the final goodbyes. And that first morning of waking up and realizing your status has suddenly changed to "widow."
Three times in my life I came painfully close to losing my lifetime love. Thank God, He gave her back to me each of those times. And then there was the day that was her day to go to heaven. The undeniable reality is that in every close relationship some day one of them will be gone and the other one left. So you cherish each day.
No doubt Valentine's Day is special and romantic for lots of people. Just ask the local florist. And at that point, even Mr. "Nomance" at least coughs up some coins for a card or some candy. Maybe even a candlelight dinner at McDonald's, huh?
But for too many, a holiday about love is a taunting reminder that there's no one there to send you a Valentine. Maybe because they're gone, maybe because they left, or maybe because there just isn't anyone at this point.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Charlie Brown Valentines."
Love is wonderful. There's a problem with it. It's "loseable": desertion, divorce, dying. One way or another, every love sooner or later leaves.
Well, not every. In those moments after the love of my life was gone, I had an anchor from someone who had promised me, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Someone who has never broken that promise; someone who backed it up with His life.
Jesus made that promise (Hebrews 13:5). Not just to me, but to everyone who belongs to Him. We watched the video of that memorial service for our friend Jack. And while it was evident he will be greatly missed, hope was all over the place. All over the people he loved, because as they testified, they were being carried by that greater love. I know that feeling.
You can find love and romance and companionship in lots of places. But there's only one place you can find a love you cannot lose. The love you were made for, and that is in the arms of Jesus Christ. Of whom the Bible says in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:39, "Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
I know He'ill never leave me, because if He was ever going to, it would have been when His love for me meant being nailed to a cross. But He went the distance. Because there was no other way I could ever know God; no way I could ever escape the hellish penalty for hijacking my life from God. And no other way I could be with Him in His heaven forever.
In the greatest act of love in human history, the Bible says, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). He didn't deserve that cross. I didn't deserve to have God's Son dying in my place. But He did. Then, three days later, He walked out of His grave. And when I invited Him, He walked into my life and will never walk out.
This could be the love you've spent your whole life looking for. This could be the day you experience that love for yourself. Open up to Him and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I want to invite you to join me at our website as soon as you can get to it today and find out how you can be sure you belong to Jesus yourself. It's ANewStory.com.
There is an unloseable love, but only one. A love that will never desert you, never divorce you, never die on you. and His name is Jesus.