Max Lucado Daily: TRUST GOD AND WAIT - September 7, 2023
God has promised to give us all that we need. All we need to do is wait on God. But his timing is out of sync with ours, so we cut corners. We cheat on exams, on taxes. We deceive with lies, exaggerations, and misstatements. We inflate facts, drop names, and work the system. A wrong shortcut, even one taken for the right reasons, always causes someone pain.
There are no shortcuts with God. He doesn’t need my help with his plans. What are you seeking? Needing? Wanting? God’s timing is always right. His plan is always best. His will never includes deception or manipulation. His strategy never destroys people or requires compromise. He never badgers, battles, belittles, or bruises people. And if you are doing so, then you are not in God’s will. Trust him…and wait. God never gives up on you.
1 Corinthians 15:1-34
Resurrection
1–2 15 Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time—this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I’m assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you’re in this for good and holding fast.)
3–9 The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him; and that he finally presented himself alive to me. It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don’t deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God’s church right out of existence.
10–11 But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I’m not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven’t I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it’s all the same: We spoke God’s truth and you entrusted your lives.
12–15 Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection.
16–20 If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.
21–28 There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won’t let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy is death! As the psalmist said, “He laid them low, one and all; he walked all over them.” When Scripture says that “he walked all over them,” it’s obvious that he couldn’t at the same time be walked on. When everything and everyone is finally under God’s rule, the Son will step down, taking his place with everyone else, showing that God’s rule is absolutely comprehensive—a perfect ending!
29 Why do you think people offer themselves to be baptized for those already in the grave? If there’s no chance of resurrection for a corpse, if God’s power stops at the cemetery gates, why do we keep doing things that suggest he’s going to clean the place out someday, pulling everyone up on their feet alive?
30–33 And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work? I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I’d do this if I wasn’t convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus? Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn’t be the end of me? Not on your life! It’s resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there’s no resurrection, “We eat, we drink, the next day we die,” and that’s all there is to it. But don’t fool yourselves. Don’t let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. “Bad company ruins good manners.”
34 Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. No more playing fast and loose with resurrection facts. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can’t afford in times like these. Aren’t you embarrassed that you’ve let this kind of thing go on as long as you have?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, September 07, 2023
Today's Scripture
Ruth 2:5–12
Boaz asked his young servant who was foreman over the farm hands, “Who is this young woman? Where did she come from?”
6–7 The foreman said, “Why, that’s the Moabite girl, the one who came with Naomi from the country of Moab. She asked permission. ‘Let me glean,’ she said, ‘and gather among the sheaves following after your harvesters.’ She’s been at it steady ever since, from early morning until now, without so much as a break.”
8–9 Then Boaz spoke to Ruth: “Listen, my daughter. From now on don’t go to any other field to glean—stay right here in this one. And stay close to my young women. Watch where they are harvesting and follow them. And don’t worry about a thing; I’ve given orders to my servants not to harass you. When you get thirsty, feel free to go and drink from the water buckets that the servants have filled.”
10 She dropped to her knees, then bowed her face to the ground. “How does this happen that you should pick me out and treat me so kindly—me, a foreigner?”
11–12 Boaz answered her, “I’ve heard all about you—heard about the way you treated your mother-in-law after the death of her husband, and how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to live among a bunch of total strangers. God reward you well for what you’ve done—and with a generous bonus besides from God, to whom you’ve come seeking protection under his wings.”
Insight
Ruth’s story shows the beauty of God’s redemption. He redeems us through Jesus, Ruth’s descendant (Matthew 1:5). But don’t miss Ruth’s embarrassing ancestry. Her people of Moab descended from Lot, who fathered children with his own daughters (Genesis 19:30–38). Boaz also comes from dubious origins. His mother was Rahab (Matthew 1:5), a Canaanite prostitute (Joshua 2:1; 6:17, 25). Both Ruth and Rahab (Hebrews 11:31) chose to identify with the one true God. Ruth told her mother-in-law, “Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). Our origins and history don’t matter. It’s our identity in Christ that counts. By: Tim Gustafson
Acts of Kindness
He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead. Ruth 2:20
Months after suffering a miscarriage, Valerie decided to have a garage sale. Gerald, a neighbor craftsman a few miles away, eagerly bought the baby crib she was selling. While there, his wife talked with Valerie and learned about her loss. After hearing of her situation on the way home, Gerald decided to use the crib to craft a keepsake for Valerie. A week later, he tearfully presented her with a beautiful bench. “There are good people out there, and here’s proof,” Valerie said.
Like Valerie, Ruth and Naomi suffered great loss. Naomi’s husband and two sons had died. And now she and her bereft daughter-in-law Ruth had no heirs and no one to provide for them (Ruth 1:1–5). That’s where Boaz stepped in. When Ruth went to a field to pick up leftover grain, Boaz—the owner—asked about her. When he learned who she was, he was kind to her (2:5–9). Amazed, Ruth asked, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes?” (v. 10). He replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband” (v. 11).
Boaz later married Ruth and provided for Naomi (ch. 4). Through their marriage, a forefather of David—and of Jesus—was born. As God used Gerald and Boaz to help transform the grief of another, He can work through us to show kindness and empathy to others in pain. By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
When have you been the giver or recipient of an act of kindness? What was the result?
Dear God, thank You for sending Your Son to redeem me, the greatest kindness of all.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 07, 2023
Fountains of Blessings
The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. —John 4:14
The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you “will flow rivers of living water”— irrepressible life (John 7:38).
We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as “rivers of living water” in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you “will flow rivers of living water.” It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.
Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us. Disciples Indeed, 388 R
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 1-2; 1 Corinthians 16
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 07, 2023
"Spare Parts" Faith - #9564
This is probably going to take a little imagination; maybe a lot of imagination. Let's say you go to buy a new car and you're going to pay in cash. So, let's make up a number - $30,000 in cash. Now, the dealer stamps the invoice Paid In Full. He says it will be here in two weeks. You show up all excited about getting your new car and you say, "Here I am. Remember me?" He says, "Oh yeah! Sure!" And he gives you this gift-wrapped box, shakes your hand and walks away. You go, "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" He says, "No, open the box, I think you're going to like it." So you open it up and here's a new steering wheel, a new carburetor, and a new hub cap. You go, "Hey, wait, Buddy! These are just spare parts! I paid the full price! I should get the full product."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "'Spare Parts' Faith."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Revelation 5. I think in many ways this is one of the most incredible chapters in the Bible. It pulls the curtain on heaven in John's vision and it reveals Christ in all His majesty as we seldom see Him in the Bible. This is not the Jesus of Bethlehem or the cross. This is Jesus as He is now; as we're going to meet Him one day.
In this vision there are 24 elders who represent the church - us believers. And in the middle of their praise and their amazement they say this to Jesus Christ in Revelation 5:9-10, "And they sang a new song. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because You were slain and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God. And they will reign on the earth."
Man, in heaven they're celebrating nonstop the inconceivable price the Son of God paid for you and me, which brings us to that box of spare parts. How much of you have you given to this One who gave everything for you? This says that Jesus purchased men for God with His blood. A lot of us tend to divide our lives into compartments, and we've got a nice Jesus compartment. In that compartment we've got our Bible reading, our prayer, our church, our ministry work.
And then there's all those other compartments; how we treat our family, how we treat our coworkers, here's what we do for fun, there's our music over there, here's our recreation, here's the websites we go to. And then there's the compartment for our business, our career, the sexuality of our life, our friends. Those are the things that really matter to us.
When we heard the knock of Jesus on our heart, we said, "Come into my life, Lord." And maybe we gave Him a compartment. In essence, we brought Him a gift-wrapped box filled with spare parts; the things that didn't matter all that much to us. But this is Jesus. This is the King of kings. He's expecting to get what He paid so much for. Could it be Jesus is coming to you where you are right now and He's saying, "Please don't give Me the parts of your life you don't need anyway. I paid the whole price for you. I should get the whole product."
He could have stopped in the garden when He wanted to, but He didn't. He could have stopped when they were torturing Him, but He didn't. He could have stopped when He was agonizing on that cross, but He went ahead and paid your death penalty instead. The old hymn writer said, "He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free. But He died alone for you and me."
Remember, you are very expensive. God's one and only Son paid for you with His life. By the way, have you ever embraced this man as your only hope of a relationship with God, of having your sins forgiven, of going to heaven? If you've never done that, you know one day God's going to ask you, "What did you do with My Son who died for you?" You need to be able to say, "I gave Him me."
If you never have, well I'd love to introduce you to Him and show you how that could begin. Would you go to our website today - ANewStory.com. Give Jesus what He paid for. And that's all of you. He sure deserves more than your spare parts.