Max Lucado Daily: WHEN TOMORROW COMES - July 26, 2023
An Ironman triathlete told me the secret of his success: “You last the long race by running the short ones.” In other words, don’t swim 2.4 miles; just swim to the next buoy. Never tackle more than the challenge ahead.
Didn’t Jesus offer the same counsel? “So don’t ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).
Face challenges in stages. You can’t control your temper forever, but you can control it for the next hour. You last the long race by running the short ones. You don’t have wisdom for tomorrow’s needs, but you will tomorrow. You don’t have resources for tomorrow’s needs, but you will tomorrow. You don’t have courage for tomorrow’s challenges. But you will, when tomorrow comes.
Calm Moments for Anxious Days
Read more Calm Moments for Anxious Days
1 Corinthians 7:20-40
Stay where you were when God called your name. Were you a slave? Slavery is no roadblock to obeying and believing. I don’t mean you’re stuck and can’t leave. If you have a chance at freedom, go ahead and take it. I’m simply trying to point out that under your new Master you’re going to experience a marvelous freedom you would never have dreamed of. On the other hand, if you were free when Christ called you, you’ll experience a delightful “enslavement to God” you would never have dreamed of.
23-24 All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.
25-28 The Master did not give explicit direction regarding virgins, but as one much experienced in the mercy of the Master and loyal to him all the way, you can trust my counsel. Because of the current pressures on us from all sides, I think it would probably be best to stay just as you are. Are you married? Stay married. Are you unmarried? Don’t get married. But there’s certainly no sin in getting married, whether you’re a virgin or not. All I am saying is that when you marry, you take on additional stress in an already stressful time, and I want to spare you if possible.
29-31 I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is fading away.
32-35 I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God. I’m trying to be helpful and make it as easy as possible for you, not make things harder. All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions.
36-38 If a man has a woman friend to whom he is loyal but never intended to marry, having decided to serve God as a “single,” and then changes his mind, deciding he should marry her, he should go ahead and marry. It’s no sin; it’s not even a “step down” from celibacy, as some say. On the other hand, if a man is comfortable in his decision for a single life in service to God and it’s entirely his own conviction and not imposed on him by others, he ought to stick with it. Marriage is spiritually and morally right and not inferior to singleness in any way, although as I indicated earlier, because of the times we live in, I do have pastoral reasons for encouraging singleness.
39-40 A wife must stay with her husband as long as he lives. If he dies, she is free to marry anyone she chooses. She will, of course, want to marry a believer and have the blessing of the Master. By now you know that I think she’ll be better off staying single. The Master, in my opinion, thinks so, too.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Today's Scripture
1 Peter 4:7-11
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
Insight
Peter describes the fact that “the end of all things is near” (1 Peter 4:7) as what can motivate believers in Jesus to daily lives of prayer, love, and service. The word translated “end” is the Greek word telos, which can also be understood as “fulfillment” or “climax.” Peter is assuring believers in Jesus that they can be confident of the end of the story: that Christ will return and His redemptive plan will reach complete fulfillment. That hope isn’t a distant one, but “near” (v. 7) in a way that can transform their daily lives. In His earthly ministry, Jesus captured a similar idea when He proclaimed that the “kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15). The promise that God’s redemption story is reaching its fulfillment in Christ can give believers hope and courage in even the most difficult circumstances. By: Monica La Rose
Castaway Faith
The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 1 Peter 4:7
In June 1965, six Tongan teenagers sailed from their island home in search of adventure. But when a storm broke their mast and rudder the first night, they drifted for days without food or water before reaching the uninhabited island of ‘Ata. It would be fifteen months before they were found.
The boys worked together on ‘Ata to survive, setting up a small food garden, hollowing out tree trunks to store rainwater, even building a makeshift gym. When one boy broke his leg from a cliff fall, the others set it using sticks and leaves. Arguments were managed with mandatory reconciliation, and each day began and ended with singing and prayer. When the boys emerged from their ordeal healthy, their families were amazed—their funerals had already been held.
Being a believer in Jesus in the first century could be an isolating experience. Persecuted for your faith and often stranded from family, one could feel adrift. The apostle Peter’s encouragement to such castaways was to stay disciplined and prayerful (1 Peter 4:7), to look after each other (v. 8), and use whatever abilities one has to get the work done (vv. 10–11). In time, God would bring them through their ordeal “strong, firm and steadfast” (5:10).
In times of trial, “castaway faith” is needed. We pray and work in solidarity, and God brings us through.
By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
In times of ordeal, are you more likely to ask for help or try and face the problem alone? What “castaway” do you know who needs encouragement?
Dear God, please give me “castaway faith” to face times of difficulty well.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
The Way to Purity
Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart….For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man… —Matthew 15:18-20
Initially we trust in our ignorance, calling it innocence, and next we trust our innocence, calling it purity. Then when we hear these strong statements from our Lord, we shrink back, saying, “But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart.” We resent what He reveals. Either Jesus Christ is the supreme authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. Am I prepared to trust the penetration of His Word into my heart, or would I prefer to trust my own “innocent ignorance”? If I will take an honest look at myself, becoming fully aware of my so-called innocence and putting it to the test, I am very likely to have a rude awakening that what Jesus Christ said is true, and I will be appalled at the possibilities of the evil and the wrong within me. But as long as I remain under the false security of my own “innocence,” I am living in a fool’s paradise. If I have never been an openly rude and abusive person, the only reason is my own cowardice coupled with the sense of protection I receive from living a civilized life. But when I am open and completely exposed before God, I find that Jesus Christ is right in His diagnosis of me.
The only thing that truly provides protection is the redemption of Jesus Christ. If I will simply hand myself over to Him, I will never have to experience the terrible possibilities that lie within my heart. Purity is something far too deep for me to arrive at naturally. But when the Holy Spirit comes into me, He brings into the center of my personal life the very Spirit that was exhibited in the life of Jesus Christ, namely, the Holy Spirit, which is absolute unblemished purity.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
Bible in a Year: Psalms 40-42; Acts 27:1-26
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Heaven's Heroes - #9533
Because I lived in the New York area for so many years, went to the World Trade Center so many times, even knew people in the building, the events of September 11th always come back to me. And part of the incredible impact of the attacks on the World Trade Center was that everyday people suddenly became national heroes. Fire trucks would roll through New York City with weary firefighters on board. Can't you picture it? Maybe you saw that stuff on the news. And New Yorkers would erupt in spontaneous cheers - scenes that I would never forget. Ground Zero, that devastated area at and around the site of the collapsed towers, became known as Ground Hero. Professional athletes, who are supposedly our nation's heroes in less turbulent times, kept saying, "We're not the heroes - they're the heroes." Americans will not soon forget those firefighters, the police, the medical personnel, and those countless volunteers who gave everything they had to try to rescue those who were caught in those collapsing towers. I'll tell you what. For me, the word "hero" was never the same again.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Heaven's Heroes."
We know what a hero is. Ultimately, it is someone who does whatever it takes to rescue someone who will die if they don't. Apparently, that's God's definition of a "hero" too.
Consider this exciting promise from Daniel 12:3. I love this verse. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "Those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever." Wow! God seems to be reserving special reward, special recognition, and special significance for those who lead people into a right relationship with Him. And heaven's applause will last "forever and ever." In other words, heaven's heroes are those who help other people get to heaven.
Proverbs 24:11 underscores, I guess I call it the "life-or-deathness" of our spiritual rescue mission. God says, "Rescue those being led away to death." Ezekiel puts it in the context of a watchman on the city wall helping people know when there's approaching danger. "If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood." Now, that's a sobering verse.
If you belong to Jesus Christ, you have a life-or-death responsibility for the folks in your world who don't belong to Jesus. You have the information. You know what they need to know about what Jesus did for them on the cross and how they can have a relationship with Him - and that message that you know is their only hope of heaven. You can't keep it to yourself. Your silence is like giving them a silent death sentence.
So you are uniquely positioned to be the spiritual rescuer of the people you know, the people you care about. You are where you are to give the people there a chance to go to heaven. That's why God put you there. Don't let them down. This isn't about rescuing someone so they can have 30 or 40 more years to live on earth. This is about whether they live or die for all eternity!
I know it feels risky to tell them about Jesus. "Oh, I might lose this. This might happen." All the yeah, buts. But then rescue is always risky. The reason you take the risks is because you can't stand the thought of that person dying without a chance to live. So you go where they are. You pray with a desperate urgency for God's open doors and God's words, and you give whatever you have to give to bring them out.
Saving lives makes a person a hero. When you lead someone to the Man who died for them, you are saving a life forever my friend. And you just became one of heaven's heroes.