Max Lucado Daily: CHRIST IS THE REWARD - November 4, 2024
Do you visit the Grand Canyon for the T-shirt or the snow globe? No. The reward of the Grand Canyon is the Grand Canyon. The wide-eyed realization you’re part of something ancient, splendid, powerful and greater than you.
The cache of Christianity is Christ. Not money in the bank or a car in the garage or a better self-image. The Fort Knox of faith is Christ. Fellowship with him. Walking with him. Pondering him. The heart-stopping realization that in him you’re part of something endless, unstoppable, unfathomable! And that he, who can dig the Grand Canyon with his pinkie, thinks you’re worth his death on Roman timber. Christ is the reward of Christianity.
Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust
Zechariah 14
The Day Is Coming
1–2 14 Note well: God’s Judgment Day is on the way:
“Plunder will be piled high and handed out.
I’m bringing all the godless nations
to war against Jerusalem—
Houses plundered,
women raped,
Half the city taken into exile,
the other half left behind.”
3–5 But then God will march out against the godless nations and fight—a great war! That’s the Day he’ll take his stand on the Mount of Olives, facing Jerusalem from the east. The Mount of Olives will be split right down the middle, from east to west, leaving a wide valley. Half the mountain will shift north, the other half south. Then you will run for your lives down the valley, your escape route that will take you all the way to Azal. You’ll run for your lives, just as you ran on the day of the great earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then my God will arrive and all the holy angels with him.
6–7 What a Day that will be! No more cold nights—in fact, no more nights! The Day is coming—the timing is God’s—when it will be continuous day. Every evening will be a fresh morning.
8 What a Day that will be! Fresh flowing rivers out of Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea, half to the western sea, flowing year-round, summer and winter!
9 God will be king over all the earth, one God and only one. What a Day that will be!
10–11 The land will stretch out spaciously around Jerusalem—to Geba in the north and Rimmon in the south, with Jerusalem towering at the center, and the commanding city gates—Gate of Ben-jamin to First Gate to Corner Gate to Hananel Tower to the Royal Winery—ringing the city full of people. Never again will Jerusalem be totally destroyed. From now on it will be a safe city.
12–14 But this is what will happen to all who fought against Jerusalem: God will visit them with a terrible plague. People’s flesh will rot off their bones while they are walking around; their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues in their mouths; people will be dying on their feet! Mass hysteria when that happens—total panic! Fellow soldiers fighting and killing each other—holy terror! And then Judah will jump into the fray!
14–15 Treasures from all the nations will be piled high—gold, silver, the latest fashions. The plague will also hit the animals—horses, mules, camels, donkeys. Everything alive in the military camps will be hit by the plague.
16–19 All the survivors from the godless nations that fought against Jerusalem will travel to Jerusalem every year to worship the King, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, and celebrate the Feast of Booths. If any of these survivors fail to make the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship the King, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, there will be no rain. If the Egyptians don’t make the pilgrimage and worship, there will be no rain for them. Every nation that does not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths will be hit with the plague. Egypt and any other nation that does not make pilgrimage to celebrate the Feast of Booths gets punished.
20–21 On that Day, the Big Day, all the horses’ harness bells will be inscribed “Holy to God.” The cooking pots in the Temple of God will be as sacred as chalices and plates on the altar. In fact, all the pots and pans in all the kitchens of Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to God-of-the-Angel-Armies. People who come to worship, preparing meals and sacrifices, will use them. On that Big Day there will be no buying or selling in the Temple of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 04, 2024
Today's Scripture
Revelation 7:9-12
I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing:
Salvation to our God on his Throne!
Salvation to the Lamb!
All who were standing around the Throne—Angels, Elders, Animals—fell on their faces before the Throne and worshiped God, singing:
Oh, Yes!
The blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
The honor and power and strength,
To our God forever and ever and ever!
Oh, Yes!
Insight
In Revelation 7:9-12, in the final book of the Bible and at the end of the story of God’s work in redeeming the world, we get a kind of reversal of one of humanity’s greatest acts of rebellion. In Genesis 11, a unified humanity gathered together to build a “tower that reaches to the heavens,” so they could “make a name for [themselves]” (v. 4). The consequence of that unified rebellion was division—separation into the various languages and peoples and tribes and nations.
But through Jesus and the unity He brings through His own sacrifice, God has begun rebuilding humanity. The gospel spreads to fill the ends of the earth. And ultimately, a new kind of people will cry out with one single voice: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10). People will be unified in praise to God rather than rebellion.
Discover more about the end times with this entry-level course on Revelation. By: Jed Ostoich
Loving the Nations
Before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language.
Revelation 7:9
As the daughter of two loving and hard-working parents from Central and South America, I’m grateful they had the courage to be the first in their families to immigrate to the United States for better opportunities. They met as young adults in New York City, married, had my sister and me, and went on to run their respective businesses.
As a native New Yorker, I’ve grown up embracing my Hispanic heritage and have been fascinated with people of diverse backgrounds. For instance, I once shared my story of faith at an evening service at a multicultural church that meets in a former Broadway theater. Speaking to a multicultural group about God’s love is only a glimpse of what heaven will be like when we see people from different nations come together as the body of Christ.
In Revelation, the apostle John gives us this amazing picture of heaven: “Before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). God our Savior will receive the “praise and glory” and so much more He’s worthy of “for ever and ever” (v. 12).
Now we have just a glimpse of what heaven will be like. But one day, we who believe in Jesus will be united with Him and with people from different countries, cultures, and languages. Since God loves the nations, let’s also love our global family in Christ. By: Nancy Gavilanes
Reflect & Pray
How can you love the nations? How can you celebrate others and their cultures?
Dear God, please help me to love others well.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 04, 2024
Acting on His Truth
Come near to God and he will come near to you. —James 4:8
It’s essential for us, as ministers of the gospel, to give people a chance to act on the truth of God. We might wish we could act for them, but no individual can act for another. Our role is to share the evangelical message, a message which can and should lead to action. But the ultimate responsibility must be left with the individual. The paralysis of refusing to act leaves people exactly where they were before. Once they act, they are never the same again.
Acting on the truth of God can look like foolishness in the eyes of the world. Because of this, many who have been convicted by the Holy Spirit refuse to act. And yet the very second I act, I live; all the rest is mere existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.
Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it—not necessarily physically, but in your will. Record it with ink or with blood. The weakest saint is emancipated the instant she acts. In that instant, all the power of God Almighty is on her side.
We back down from acting on God’s truth all the time. We come up to the truth, confess we are wrong, then turn back. We do this over and over again, until we learn that we have no business going back. We have to transact business with our Lord on the truth he is showing us, whatever it may be. When he tells us, “Come,” he really means “transact with me.”
“Come near to God.” The last thing we’ll do is come to God, but all who do come know that the instant they come, the supernatural life of God invades them. The dominating power of the world and the flesh and the devil is paralyzed, not by their act of coming but because that act has linked them to God and his redemptive power.
Jeremiah 32-33; Hebrews 1
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
Monday, November 04, 2024
Love Even When You Lose - #9866
When it comes to the Olympics, it seems as if there are always certain athletes that give the Games this personal touch for us. Let's go back to the 1994 Winter Olympics. I remember we all wanted to see the women's skating showdown between Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Harding. In 1998, it was two teenagers named Michelle and Tara. Michelle Kwan was heavily favored to leave Japan and the Olympics with that gold medal; 15-year old Tara Lipinski was expected to bring home the silver maybe.
But in a stunning performance, and an Olympic upset, young Tara Lipinski captured the gold. Michelle Kwan, who had skated an almost flawless program, was disappointed but she was gracious. She won a silver medal that so many would love to win, but you know it still had to hurt. Some of that hurt slipped out as she sent a message to her family, and TV carried it around the world. She said, "I love you, Mom and Dad, and Karen and Jimmy. I hope you still love me." Ouch!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Love Even When You Lose."
"I hope you still love me." That's not just a feeling a disappointed Olympian has felt. Many of us have had those moments when we have wondered, "Can you love me like this? I mean, the way I've failed you or hurt you? I'm not very lovable right now."
It's just a fact that a lot of love in our lives is "performance love." People will love us if we perform. Sales people know a company and co-workers base your worth on this month's sales. Did you get the grades? Did you get the win? But who loves you when you lose? When you're not as young and attractive anymore? Who loves you when you've blown it? When you can't do the things that have always brought you approval? You may know all too well the sting of love that used to be there for you. The love that was supposed to always be there, but it's gone.
Conditional love. There are lots of people who are willing to say, "I love you if..." What your heart cries for, though, and mine too, is someone who will just say, "I love you. There is nothing you can do to make me love you more. There is nothing you can do to make me love you less. I have made my choice. I love you. That will never change."
Maybe you think that kind of "never-leave-you" love is impossible. Well, there really is a love you cannot lose, because it's a love you cannot earn. The undeniable proof of that love is described in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 5:8. "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." In other words, God loved us enough to sacrifice His only Son for us even though we were doing the things God hates.
Maybe you've tried to earn God's love by being a good person, a religious person, a Christian person. But God says clearly that the way to begin a relationship with Him is "not by works" (Ephesians 2:9). It's by His "grace," the Bible says, which means undeserved love. All your goodness cannot erase a lifetime of sinning. Sin puts us on eternity's Death Row. But even with all our "sin-garbage" - totally unlovable spiritually - God sent His Son to die for us; to die for you. If He didn't turn His back on you when His Son was hanging on that cross for you, He will never turn His back on you.
Once you put your total trust in Jesus to be your Rescuer from your sin, you have His unloseable love. And on your very worst days, you can ask God, "Do You love me like this?" and He will always answer, "Yes." This is the love your heart has been aching for all these years. He's within your reach right now. Just tell Jesus you're giving your life to Him, beginning today.
I'd love to help you know how for sure you belong to Him if you would just go to our website. That's why it's there. It's ANewStory.com. Please check it out today.
Imagine, never unloved again, never another day alone. Not because you deserve it but because Jesus died to remove what could ever take you out of God's love. He made His move on the cross, and now, my friend, it's your move.
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