Max Lucado Daily: THE BIG PICTURE - February 16, 2023
Would you buy a house if you were only allowed to see one of its rooms? Would you buy a car if you saw only its tires and taillights? Good judgment requires a broad picture.
One failure doesn’t make a person a failure; one achievement doesn’t make a person a success. “The end of the matter is better than its beginning,” penned the sage. “Be patient in affliction,” echoed the apostle Paul. We only have a fragment.
Life’s mishaps and horrors are only a page out of a grand book. We must be slow about drawing conclusions. We must reserve judgment on life’s storms until we know the whole story. Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” He should know – he’s the Author of the story. And he has already written the final chapter.
Ecclesiastes 9
Well, I took all this in and thought it through, inside and out. Here’s what I understood: The good, the wise, and all that they do are in God’s hands—but, day by day, whether it’s love or hate they’re dealing with, they don’t know.
Anything’s possible. It’s one fate for everybody—righteous and wicked, good people, bad people, the nice and the nasty, worshipers and non-worshipers, committed and uncommitted. I find this outrageous—the worst thing about living on this earth—that everyone’s lumped together in one fate. Is it any wonder that so many people are obsessed with evil? Is it any wonder that people go crazy right and left? Life leads to death. That’s it.
Seize Life!
4-6 Still, anyone selected out for life has hope, for, as they say, “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” The living at least know something, even if it’s only that they’re going to die. But the dead know nothing and get nothing. They’re a minus that no one remembers. Their loves, their hates, yes, even their dreams, are long gone. There’s not a trace of them left in the affairs of this earth.
7-10 Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.
* * *
11 I took another walk around the neighborhood and realized that on this earth as it is—
The race is not always to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor satisfaction to the wise,
Nor riches to the smart,
Nor grace to the learned.
Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.
12 No one can predict misfortune.
Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds in a trap,
So men and women are caught
By accidents evil and sudden.
Wisdom Is Better than Muscle
13-15 One day as I was observing how wisdom fares on this earth, I saw something that made me sit up and take notice. There was a small town with only a few people in it. A strong king came and mounted an attack, building trenches and attack posts around it. There was a poor but wise man in that town whose wisdom saved the town, but he was promptly forgotten. (He was only a poor man, after all.)
16 All the same, I still say that wisdom is better than muscle, even though the wise poor man was treated with contempt and soon forgotten.
17 The quiet words of the wise are more effective
Than the ranting of a king of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than warheads,
But one hothead can ruin the good earth.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Today's Scripture
John 1:4–9
Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.
6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.
9-13 The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
the world was there through him,
and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
not blood-begotten,
not flesh-begotten,
not sex-begotten.
Insight
John 1:1–4 describes Jesus as God’s Word—the source of life and light for all humanity. Both life and light in Jewish tradition would’ve been associated with God’s revelation in Scripture. In Deuteronomy, for example, the Israelites were told that through obedience to God’s law they could “live and increase” (30:16). In Psalm 119:105, Scripture is described as a “lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Light was also understood as a symbol for holiness—being separated from the world and devoted to God’s purposes. Isaiah says Israel was called to be “a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (42:6–7). In describing Jesus as life and light, John teaches us that He’s God’s fullest revelation, the ultimate source of hope for all people. By: Monica La Rose
Reflecting Christ’s Light
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. John 1:4
To capture the beauty of reflective light in his landscape oil paintings, artist Armand Cabrera works with a key artistic principle: “Reflected light is never as strong as its source light.” He observes that novice painters tend to exaggerate reflected light. He says, “Reflected light belongs to the shadow and as such it must support, not compete with the lighted areas of your painting.”
We hear similar insight in the Bible concerning Jesus as “the light of all mankind” (John 1:4). John the Baptist “came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe” (v. 7). The gospel writer tells us, “He himself [John] was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light” (v. 8).
As with John, we’re chosen by God to reflect Christ’s light to those living in the shadows of an unbelieving world. This is our role, as one source says, “perhaps because unbelievers are not able to bear the full blazing glory of His light firsthand.”
Cabrera teaches his art students that “anything that has direct light falling on it in a scene becomes a source of light itself.” Similarly, with Jesus as “the true light that gives light to everyone” (v. 9), we can shine as witnesses. As we reflect Him, may the world be amazed to see His glory shine through us.
By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
How do you reflect the light of Christ? In what shadowy areas of the world can you shine His transforming light?
Shine on me, beautiful Light of God. Please help me to shine Your light in the shadows of an unbelieving world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 16, 2023
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Arise from the dead… —Ephesians 5:14
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard— just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead….” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life— He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead…,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. Not Knowing Whither, 903 R
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 19-20; Matthew 27:51-66
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 16, 2023
EVERY BABY'S A ROYAL BABY - #9419
Oh our pregnancies were big news to us. And then our kid's pregnancies, they were big news to us. Thankfully, the press didn't follow us everywhere; they couldn't have cared less. But then, we're not like British Royalty like William and Duchess Kate were when they had their first baby.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Every Baby's a Royal Baby."
Kate's first-trimester problems were front page news a few years ago, because that baby is an heir to the throne - a royal baby. But every baby is a royal baby, because only the King - of all kings - can start a human life. Long before ultrasound, God gave us a glimpse inside a mother's womb in this prayer from Psalm 139. "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous."
"You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb...Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed" (Psalm 139:13-16). Wow! From the moment the egg and sperm come together to start a life, it's all God. Every child is a unique, precious creation of Almighty God.
On the day our grandchildren came into the world, I held them in my arms. I called them by name and I spoke these words to them. They're from Ephesians 2:10. "You are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works God prepared in advance for you to do." Those aren't my words; those are God's words.
I picture God, our Heavenly Father, holding every baby and telling them that. Born rich, born poor, born "planned," born an "accident," born "normal," born "special," born "wanted," born "unwanted" - all divine masterpieces, designed by God; loved by a Creator who makes no mistakes, who has a plan for every life. The worth of every human is conferred on them before they're even born. So no one on earth can give you your worth - and no one on earth can take it away.
Amazingly, when God visited our planet, He didn't beam down as a Conqueror on a white horse. He came as we all did - as a baby: embryo, fetus, protected by amniotic fluid, sustained by a placenta, pushing His way into the world. If there was any doubt of the sacredness of a baby, the Christmas Story declares, "Case closed."
The stunner from the Bible is that the Bethlehem baby is also "the Author of all life." That baby designed every baby with a purpose and destiny that revolves around Him. In our word for today from the Word of God, "All things were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Jesus is the reason you're here. So the kids are right when they sing, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world." From the moment they're conceived - all the children, and every moment from then on.
We never really understand our worth, though, until we have a personal relationship with the One who gave us our worth in the first place. Jesus came and died because the relationship was broken by our sin; by our self-willed running of our own life; our way instead of God's way. "Created by Him, created for Him," yeah, but living for me. And facing an eternal death penalty for defying God's rule of a life that He created. And that's why Jesus came. It's why He died, to pay the price... not for sinning He had done, but for the sinning I have done and you have done.
He stands ready today to forgive every sin of your life and bring you into His love where you'll finally experience the worth you've had all along. If you're not sure you've ever begun that relationship with Jesus, tell Him today,"I'm yours, Jesus."
And go to our website. It will help you be sure you belong to Him. Our website is ANewStory.com. Today. Yeah, this is the day you could finally find your way home.