Max Lucado Daily: ASK GOD FOR PATIENCE - February 5, 2024
How infiltrated are you with God’s patience? You’ve heard about it, read about it, perhaps underlined Bible passages regarding it. But have you received it? Well the proof is in your patience. Patience deeply received results in patience freely offered.
Remember the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:34? “Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny.” Whew, we sigh. It’s a good thing God doesn’t imprison the impatient in real life. Don’t be so sure – impatience still imprisons the soul.
But God does more than demand patience from us; he offers it to us. According to Galatians 5:22, patience is a fruit of his Spirit. Have you asked God to give you some fruit? Did you grow impatient? Well ask him again and again.
Hosea 2
“Rename your brothers ‘God’s Somebody.’
Rename your sisters ‘All Mercy.’
Wild Weekends and Unholy Holidays
2–13 “Haul your mother into court. Accuse her!
She’s no longer my wife.
I’m no longer her husband.
Tell her to quit dressing like a whore,
displaying her breasts for sale.
If she refuses, I’ll rip off her clothes
and expose her, naked as a newborn.
I’ll turn her skin into dried-out leather,
her body into a badlands landscape,
a rack of bones in the desert.
I’ll have nothing to do with her children,
born one and all in a whorehouse.
Face it: Your mother’s been a whore,
bringing bastard children into the world.
She said, ‘I’m off to see my lovers!
They’ll wine and dine me,
Dress and caress me,
perfume and adorn me!’
But I’ll fix her: I’ll dump her in a field of thistles,
then lose her in a dead-end alley.
She’ll go on the hunt for her lovers
but not bring down a single one.
She’ll look high and low
but won’t find a one. Then she’ll say,
‘I’m going back to my husband, the one I started out with.
That was a better life by far than this one.’
She didn’t know that it was I all along
who wined and dined and adorned her,
That I was the one who dressed her up
in the big-city fashions and jewelry
that she wasted on wild Baal-orgies.
I’m about to bring her up short: No more wining and dining!
Silk lingerie and gowns are a thing of the past.
I’ll expose her genitals to the public.
All her fly-by-night lovers will be helpless to help her.
Party time is over. I’m calling a halt to the whole business,
her wild weekends and unholy holidays.
I’ll wreck her sumptuous gardens and ornamental fountains,
of which she bragged, ‘Whoring paid for all this!’
They will soon be dumping grounds for garbage,
feeding grounds for stray dogs and cats.
I’ll make her pay for her indulgence in promiscuous religion—
all that sensuous Baal worship
And all the promiscuous sex that went with it,
stalking her lovers, dressed to kill,
And not a thought for me.”
God’s Message!
To Start All Over Again
14–15 “And now, here’s what I’m going to do:
I’m going to start all over again.
I’m taking her back out into the wilderness
where we had our first date, and I’ll court her.
I’ll give her bouquets of roses.
I’ll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope.
She’ll respond like she did as a young girl,
those days when she was fresh out of Egypt.
16–20 “At that time”—this is God’s Message still—
“you’ll address me, ‘Dear husband!’
Never again will you address me,
‘My slave-master!’
I’ll wash your mouth out with soap,
get rid of all the dirty false-god names,
not so much as a whisper of those names again.
At the same time I’ll make a peace treaty between you
and wild animals and birds and reptiles,
And get rid of all weapons of war.
Think of it! Safe from beasts and bullies!
And then I’ll marry you for good—forever!
I’ll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Yes, I’ll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.
You’ll know me, God, for who I really am.
21–23 “On the very same day, I’ll answer”—this is God’s Message—
“I’ll answer the sky, sky will answer earth,
Earth will answer grain and wine and olive oil,
and they’ll all answer Jezreel.
I’ll plant her in the good earth.
I’ll have mercy on No-Mercy.
I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,’
and he’ll say ‘You’re my God!’ ”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 05, 2024
Today's Scripture
John 8:2–11
but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.
3–6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
6–8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
9–10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”
11 “No one, Master.”
“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”
Insight
In the passage about Jesus and the woman caught in adultery in John 8:2-11, the religious leaders were trying to entrap Him on the horns of a dilemma (a situation where you have two choices, but both are wrong). If He excuses the woman’s sin, He’d be seen as denying Moses’ law and would be exposed as a false teacher. But if He said to stone her to death, He’d be defying Roman law—for only Rome could enact capital punishment. Instead, He chooses a third option—making the religious leaders the subject of examination instead of the woman and offering her compassion. By: Bill Crowder
Extending Dignity
Has no one condemned you? John 8:10
Maggie’s young friend showed up in church shockingly dressed. No one should have been surprised though; she was a prostitute. Maggie’s visitor shifted uneasily in her seat, alternately tugging at her much-too-short skirt and folding her arms self-consciously around herself.
“Oh, are you cold?” Maggie asked, deftly diverting attention away from how she was dressed. “Here! Take my shawl.”
Maggie introduced dozens of people to Jesus simply by inviting them to come to church and helping them feel comfortable. The gospel had a way of shining through her winsome methods. She treated everyone with dignity.
When religious leaders dragged a woman before Jesus with the harsh (and accurate) charge of adultery, Christ kept the attention off her until He sent her accusers away. Once they were gone, He could have scolded her. Instead, He asked two simple questions: “Where are they?” and “Has no one condemned you?” (John 8:10). The answer to the latter question, of course, was no. So Jesus gave her the gospel in one brief statement: “Then neither do I condemn you.” And then the invitation: “Go now and leave your life of sin” (v. 11).
Never underestimate the power of genuine love for people—the kind of love that refuses to condemn, even as it extends dignity and forgiveness to everyone. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
How will you react when you see someone who’s living a hard lifestyle? Who can you invite to church this week and how might you get them to come?
Gracious God, please forgive me for having a judgmental spirit, and help me to show others Your love and grace.
Learn more about the importance of extending forgiveness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 05, 2024
Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering? (1)
If I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. —Philippians 2:17
Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ‘Well done.’ ”
It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased…” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket— to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted— not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child. Not Knowing Whither, 882 L
Bible in a Year: Exodus 36-38; Matthew 23:1-22
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 05, 2024
Hug Them Tightly, But Hold Them Loosely - #9671
It was Christmas Eve a long time ago, and we got an emergency S.O.S. phone call from a school principal that we knew in Patterson, New Jersey. She actually had promised to supply Christmas toys for some of her students who were burned out families, and I think at that time Patterson was one of the arson capitols of the country. Actually, she had come up short and it was Christmas Eve. So - this emergency call was asking if we could help.
Well, I was pretty thrilled to see our kids respond. They dropped everything and started digging into their old toys for things to give, and then came the fire engine. It was my oldest son's favorite. It was this big, new, bright red Tonka fire engine. And with both hands he carried it upstairs and extended it to me to be put in the Christmas bag. And I said, "Oh, son, are you sure you want to give this? I mean, I don't want you to feel bad about this tomorrow." I think he was almost offended. He looked at me with those big, blue eyes and he said, "Dad! Isn't this what Jesus coming here is all about?" Oh, man, I melted. You see, even at his young age, my son knew that even your most precious possessions really belong to the Lord and are to be held loosely, whether they're toy trucks or the children who play with them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hug Them Tightly, But Hold Them Loosely."
Our word for today from the Word of God, it's from 1 Samuel 1. It's about a mother who could not have wanted her child more. Her name is Hannah. She has suffered many childless years, frustrated years. She gives God a desperate prayer, "Lord, give me a child." And He gives her a glorious answer in the person of a baby - Samuel. She says in verse 20, after the baby comes, "I will name him Samuel because I asked the Lord for him." Then in verse 22, it says, "Hannah did not go up to the temple. She said to her husband, 'After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord and he will live there at the temple always.'" She wants him to be raised for the Lord's service by the High Priest.
Verse 27: "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." Man! Hannah loved her child dearly, but she held him loosely. You know, I think many of us Christian parents can say, "Whatever You want, Lord, about everything we have except maybe my son or my daughter."
You see, it's one thing for our children to need us; it's something else for us to need them too much. Had Hannah needed Samuel too much, she would have restricted God's training, and God's movement, and God's plans for his life. Without realizing it, we often end up standing in the way of God's best for our kids because, well, we might lose their attention, or their closeness, or their help that we need. Or the identity that they give us. Maybe our dreams for them are different from God's dreams for them. But we continue to press our expectations, maybe even using spiritual language to do it.
It's so easy to let our children become an extension of our ego, our hopes, our dreams rather than letting them simply be God's servants. Maybe you even have a child God is calling into His service and you're kind of standing in the way. We just dare not forget that our children are God's property trusted to us. We dare not hijack them from His service to be in ours.
Oh, love them deeply, but don't hold them back. Hug them tightly, but hold them loosely.