Max Lucado Daily: NOTHING COMPARES WITH GOD - October 22, 2024
To what can we compare God? Who is like the Lord? What you are to a paper airplane, God is to you. Make one. Challenge it to race you around the block. Who’s faster? Invite the airplane to a game of one-on-one basketball. Will you not dominate the court? And well you should. The thing exists only because you formed it and flies only when someone throws it.
God asks Isaiah, “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” (Isaiah 40:25). As if his question needed an answer, he gives one: “I am God. I alone! I am God, and there is no one else like me” (Isaiah 46:9). King David marveled, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7).
You and I may have power. But God is power. No one and nothing compares with him!
Cast of Characters: Lost and Found
Zechariah 5
Sixth Vision: The Flying Book
1 5 I looked up again and saw—surprise!—a book on the wing! A book flying!
2 The Messenger-Angel said to me, “What do you see now?”
I said, “I see a book flying, a huge book—thirty feet long and fifteen wide!”
3–4 He told me, “This book is the verdict going out worldwide against thieves and liars. The first half of the book disposes of everyone who steals; the second half takes care of everyone who lies. I launched it”—Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies—“and so it will fly into the house of every thief and every liar. It will land in each house and tear it down, timbers and stones.”
Seventh Vision: A Woman in a Basket
5 The Messenger-Angel appeared and said, “Look up. Tell me what you see.”
6 I said, “What in the world is that?”
He said, “This is a bushel basket on a journey. It holds the sin of everyone, everywhere.”
7 Then the lid made of lead was removed from the basket—and there was a woman sitting in it!
8 He said, “This is Miss Wicked.” He pushed her back down into the basket and clamped the lead lid over her.
9 Then I looked up and to my surprise saw two women flying. On outstretched wings they airlifted the bushel basket into the sky.
10 I said to the Messenger-Angel, “Where are they taking the bushel basket?”
11 He said, “East to the land of Shinar. They will build a garage to house it. When it’s finished, the basket will be stored there.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Today's Scripture
Matthew 23:23-33
“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?
25–26 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.
27–28 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds.
29–32 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You’re cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count.
33–34 “Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper?
Insight
Each of the four paragraphs in Matthew 23:23-32 begin with a warning against hypocrisy: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” The religious leaders were condemned for bringing sacrifices while ignoring “more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (v. 23). These words are similar to what God said through the prophet Micah: “What does the Lord require . . . ? To act justly and to love mercy” (Micah 6:8). Micah’s audience was also offering sacrifices without being truly committed to God; they were shiny on the outside but dead inside. By: J.R. Hudberg
Transformed from the Inside
You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Matthew 23:25
In the worst UK residential fire since World War II, fire engulfed the twenty-four story Grenfell Tower building in West London, claiming the lives of seventy people. Investigations revealed a primary reason the flames spread so quickly was the cladding used as part of renovation that covered the building’s exterior. The material was aluminum on the outside but had an extremely flammable plastic core.
How was such a dangerous material allowed to be sold and installed? The product’s sellers failed to disclose poor fire safety test results. And buyers, drawn by the material’s cheap price tag, failed to heed warning signs. The shiny cladding looked nice on the outside.
Some of Jesus’ harshest words were directed at religious teachers He accused of covering corruption behind a nice-looking exterior. He said they were like “whitewashed tombs”—“beautiful on the outside” but inside full of dead bones (Matthew 23:27). Instead of pursuing “justice, mercy and faithfulness” (v. 23), they were focused on looking good—cleaning “the outside of the cup” but not the “greed and self-indulgence” inside (v. 25).
It’s easier to focus on looking good than to bring our sin and brokenness honestly before God. But a nice-looking exterior doesn’t make a corrupt heart any less dangerous. God invites us to let Him transform all of us from the inside (1 John 1:9). By: Monica La Rose
Reflect & Pray
When have you tried to disguise corruption? How can you prioritize internal change?
Gracious God, please help me not to hide my brokenness but let You transform all of me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
The Testimony of the Spirit
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit. — Romans 8:16
We are in danger of getting into a negotiating mindset with God, of trying to haggle him into giving us the testimony of the Spirit before we’ve done what he tells us to do. “Why isn’t the Spirit testifying with my spirit?” you ask. “Why doesn’t God reveal himself to me?” The answer is that he won’t, not as long as you are in his way, refusing to abandon yourself to him. The instant you do abandon, God begins to testify to himself. He can’t testify to you—that is, to your human nature. Rather, he testifies to his own nature inside you, the nature you received when you were baptized by the Holy Spirit.
If you were to receive the testimony of the Spirit before the Spirit was a reality inside you, it would end in sentimental emotion. But the moment you stop debating and complete the spiritual transaction, the moment you ask for the Holy Spirit and receive him, God gives you the testimony. When you abandon intellectual reasoning and argument and hand yourself in faith to God, you will be amazed at your impertinence in having kept him waiting so long.
If you are debating the question of whether God can deliver you from sin, either let him do it or tell him he can’t. Don’t come at him with evidence, quoting this or that expert. Instead, try Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.” Come, when you are burdened with doubt. Ask, if you know you are evil: “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).
The simplicity that characterizes commonsense decisions is easy to mistake for the testimony of the Spirit. But the Spirit testifies only to his own nature and to the work of redemption, never to our human reason. If we try to make him testify to our reason, it is no wonder we remain in darkness and perplexity. Fling your doubting and debating overboard, trust in God, and his Spirit will give the testimony.
Isaiah 65-66; 1 Timothy 2
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
How To Be The One God Can Trust - #9857
I always knew that if my teenage son ever did with stocks what he did with baseball cards, he'd be a millionaire someday. And then maybe I could go on a cruise...you know, who knows? Well, a lot of young guys, when they go looking for baseball cards, just look for the card of people who are already famous. But, of course, those cards have already done a lot of their appreciating while he was becoming famous.
Now, oldest son looked for players who very few people had ever heard of. He would go back into college and see who looked promising while they were in college. Then he'd monitor their minor league statistics, and he seemed to know a couple of specific statistics to look for as clues to future greatness. Then, when that man issued a rookie card (of course the rookie card is the only one you want to have; that's the really valuable one), then my son bought the rookie card.
Then he just watched it appreciate, and then he would go and sell it and reinvest in some other surprising prospects. Now a lot of people were surprised by that players' greatness and they said, "Hey, who's he?" My son wasn't. He knew what to look for. Now, when it comes to picking God's future stars, there's one clue to future greatness that God looks for.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How To Be The One God Can Trust."
Simon Peter - not a likely prospect to be a future star. Hey, if you were looking in the minor league to see who would become a major league leader for Jesus Christ, I'm not sure you would have picked Simon Peter. Why would God use him? What did He see in him? I mean, he sleeps when you need him to be awake - he talks big, he doesn't deliver on his promises - he takes matters in his own hands and does ear surgery. He denied Jesus to a 12-year-old girl. That's all true, but he had the one trait that Jesus looks for, and that's what makes a disciple's heart.
Luke 5:4-6, our word for today from the Word of God - here's what it says: "When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch.' Simon said, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.' And when they had done so they caught such a large number of fish their nets began to break."
Okay, yes Peter's inconsistent, he's proud, he's unpredictable, impulsive, but he had the one trait out of which Jesus can build a disciple. When He can think of no other reason to do what Jesus said, he replies, "Just because You say so, I'll do it." Unquestioning obedience - that's the core of a disciple's heart. Now, he already failed to bring in any harvest. That was a reason not to go out as Jesus told him to. It was going to be inconvenient; he'd have to clean his nets again. Everything in his experience was against it; he knew it shouldn't work. You're not going to catch them in the middle of the day if you didn't catch them in the middle of the night. But he does it because Jesus said so, and that's the thing God looks for in His future stars.
So, everything around you might say, "uh... Have sex now." But you're going to keep it pure just because Jesus says so. Everything that seems to make sense says, "Oh, let your marriage go. Get out of it while you can." You might even have people advising you that way. But you're going to fight to keep it together because Jesus says so. You're going to be honest. When it looks like fudging a little bit, a little deceit, a little playing games with the truth might get you where you want to go, but you're going to tell the truth no matter what the cost. You're going to give generously even if the money isn't there. You're going to forgive and restore that relationship you don't feel like restoring because Jesus says so.
Are you someone that Jesus can build into one of His trusted disciples? Oh, maybe you've got a lot of weaknesses, I do. But once you know what Jesus says, you just do it.
See, then in the major leagues of God's usefulness, you may be destined for greatness.
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