Max Lucado Daily: FOUND: POTBELLIED PIG - June 26, 2023
The sign said Found: Potbellied Pig. Did I just read what I think I read? I’d never seen such an announcement. Similar ones, sure. But Found: Potbellied Pig? Who loses a pig? The sign presupposes a curious moment. Someone spots the pig lumbering down the sidewalk. “Poor thing. Climb in little piggy. The street is no place for you. I’ll take you home.” Man, I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t claim one. But God would, and God did. God did when he claimed us.
We assume God cares for the purebreds of the world, the tidy-living. But what about the rest of us? Do we warrant his oversight? Psalm 91 offers a rousing yes! “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty…The Lord says, ‘I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.'” Even we, Potbellied Pigs.
Come Thirsty
Read more Come Thirsty
Psalm 128
All you who fear God, how blessed you are!
how happily you walk on his smooth straight road!
You worked hard and deserve all you’ve got coming.
Enjoy the blessing! Soak in the goodness!
3-4 Your wife will bear children as a vine bears grapes,
your household lush as a vineyard,
The children around your table
as fresh and promising as young olive shoots.
Stand in awe of God’s Yes.
Oh, how he blesses the one who fears God!
5-6 Enjoy the good life in Jerusalem
every day of your life.
And enjoy your grandchildren.
Peace to Israel!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 26, 2023
Today's Scripture
2 Kings 5:20–27
Elisha said, “Everything will be all right. Go in peace.”
But he hadn’t gone far when Gehazi, servant to Elisha the Holy Man, said to himself, “My master has let this Aramean Naaman slip through his fingers without so much as a thank-you. By the living God, I’m going after him to get something or other from him!” And Gehazi took off after Naaman.
Naaman saw him running after him and jumped down from his chariot to greet him, “Is something wrong?”
22 “Nothing’s wrong, but something’s come up. My master sent me to tell you: ‘Two young men just showed up from the hill country of Ephraim, brothers from the guild of the prophets. Supply their needs with a gift of 75 pounds of silver and a couple of sets of clothes.’”
23 Naaman said, “Of course, how about 150 pounds?” Naaman insisted. He tied up the money in two sacks and gave him the two sets of clothes; he even gave him two servants to carry the gifts back with him.
24 When they got to the fort on the hill, Gehazi took the gifts from the servants, stored them inside, then sent the servants back.
25 He returned and stood before his master. Elisha said, “So what have you been up to, Gehazi?”
“Nothing much,” he said.
26-27 Elisha said, “Didn’t you know I was with you in spirit when that man stepped down from his chariot to greet you? Tell me, is this a time to look after yourself, lining your pockets with gifts? Naaman’s skin disease will now infect you and your family, with no relief in sight.”
Gehazi walked away, his skin flaky and white like snow.
Insight
The king of Aram offered a reward to anyone who could heal Naaman of leprosy (2 Kings 5:5–6). After God used Elisha to heal Naaman, Elisha refused to take any reward. However, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, was greedy and abused his trusted position. He deceitfully solicited 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothing from Naaman (vv. 22–24 nlt). For his greed and deceit, Gehazi was severely disciplined (v. 27).
Scripture makes it clear that greed is improper for a believer in Jesus (Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5), especially one who professes to serve God (1 Timothy 3:3, 8; Titus 1:7).
By: K. T. Sim
Easy Money
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21
In the late 1700s, a young man discovered a mysterious depression on Nova Scotia’s Oak Island. Guessing that pirates—perhaps even Captain Kidd himself—had buried treasure there, he and a couple of companions started digging. They never found any treasure, but the rumor took on a life of its own. Over the centuries, others continued digging at the site—expending a great amount of time and expense. The hole is now more than one hundred feet (thirty meters) deep.
Such obsessions betray the emptiness in the human heart. A story in the Bible shows how one man’s behavior revealed just such a void in his heart. Gehazi had long been a reliable servant of the great prophet Elisha. But when Elisha declined the lavish gifts of a military commander whom God had healed of leprosy, Gehazi concocted a story to get some of the loot (2 Kings 5:22). When Gehazi returned home, he lied to the prophet (v. 25). But Elisha knew. He asked him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?” (v. 26). In the end, Gehazi got what he wanted, but lost what was important (v. 27).
Jesus taught us not to pursue this world’s treasures and to instead “store up . . . treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20).
Beware of any shortcuts to your heart’s desires. Following Jesus is the way to fill the emptiness with something real.
By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
What do you long for the most? What pursuits and obsessions have left you feeling empty?
Dear God, I give my desires over to You. Please help me crave the treasures that You value.
For further study, read Compassion: When Jesus Asks for More than We Have.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 26, 2023
Drawing on the Grace of God— Now
By Oswald Chambers
We…plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. —2 Corinthians 6:1
The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as needed. “…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses”— that is where our patience is tested (2 Corinthians 6:4). Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying to yourself, “Oh well, I won’t count this time”? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you— it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, “I will endure this until I can get away and pray.” Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s grace through prayer.
“…in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors…” (2 Corinthians 6:5)— in all these things, display in your life a drawing on the grace of God, which will show evidence to yourself and to others that you are a miracle of His. Draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.
“…having nothing….” Never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful with the treasure God gives you. “…and yet possessing all things”— this is poverty triumphant (2 Corinthians 6:10).
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
Bible in a Year: Job 5-7; Acts 8:1-25
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 26, 2023
How to Have a Peaceful Relationship - #9511
I love those old westerns! Things were so simple then. You know, the good guys were good, and the bad guys were bad. The hero only kissed his horse. And the most he did with a girl was probably sing some trail song to her. And there was always a predictable showdown with the head good guy and the head bad guy. One of the classic lines usually came as the Marshal stared down Bad Bart. And he said something like this, "I want you out of town by sundown." Great line. By the way, it's a great way to keep peace in town - or anywhere for that matter. I don't mean asking people to leave, but setting a deadline like that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Have a Peaceful Relationship."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from Ephesians 4:26, one of my favorites. "In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." I've often thought, "Boy, that would be a great sign to put over every married couple's bed." Huh?
It's talking here about how to have peace and keep peace in a relationship. It has to be anchored to this determination not to let any conflict last until tomorrow. "Get out of here by sundown!" Yep, that's the message! It takes work to keep peace in a marriage, or a family, or in a friendship, or a group of people who are working together, or in a ministry, or in a church.
Earlier in this chapter, in chapter 4 verse 3, it says, "Make every effort..." Okay, that means work hard. "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." What kind of effort? Well, there are three efforts that keep peace in a relationship. Number one, deal with the conflict quickly. If you've ever been to Disney World, you may know it's a very clean amusement park in spite of the millions of people who go there. You get the feeling that if you drop something, they're going to pick it up before it hits the ground. They're going to catch it. And you know what happens? Clean breeds clean. They pick something up immediately. Their theory is, "Don't let a mess get started, and there won't be a big one."
That's a pretty good idea for keeping relationships clean. Don't wait until it's built into a crisis. Deal with the first strain, the first miscommunication, or misunderstanding, or hurt. Deal with conflict quickly.
The second effort to keep the peace is, "Tell how you feel." For example, I never knew I had been hurting my wife. I had inadvertently been interrupting and correcting her in public conversation some years ago. I didn't know until she told me. Well, don't just expect people will know. And you can say, "Well, they ought to know." Well, tell them how you feel. Express it as a feeling - not an accusation. Tell them how you feel!
And the third effort to keep the peace is to admit being wrong. That might be the toughest one of all for some of us. Be willing to apologize. Powerful words, "I was wrong." Some of us are like Fonzi, we can't get those words out. "I was wro..wro..wrong." We just can't say it. But those are three of the most healing words in the English language.
James 5:16, "Confess your faults to one another, that you may be healed." When we let conflict and hurt stay overnight in town - maybe many overnights - we destroy peace, we erode love, we create resentment. we erode trust.
Unresolved anger is always a bad guy in town. And you know what to tell a bad guy, right? "I want you out of here by sundown."