Max Lucado Daily: LOOK UP IN FAITH - May 13, 2024
We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath. This is the reassuring lesson from the miracle of the bread and fish. Jesus told his disciples to do the impossible: feed five thousand men, plus women and children. The disciples responded, “Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food” (Matthew 14:15 NKJV).
Now you’re not facing five thousand hungry bellies, but you are facing a deadline, a loved one in need of a cure, a spouse entwined in temptation. And typically, you’d get anxious. But this time, instead of starting with what you have, start with Jesus. Start with his wealth, his resources, his strength. And before you open the ledger, open your heart. Before you lash out in fear, look up in faith. Turn to your heavenly father for help.
Jeremiah 33
Things You Could Never Figure Out on Your Own
1 33 While Jeremiah was still locked up in jail, a second Message from God was given to him:
2–3 “This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’
4–5 “This is what God, the God of Israel, has to say about what’s going on in this city, about the homes of both people and kings that have been demolished, about all the ravages of war and the killing by the Chaldeans, and about the streets littered with the dead bodies of those killed because of my raging anger—about all that’s happened because the evil actions in this city have turned my stomach in disgust.
6–9 “But now take another look. I’m going to give this city a thorough renovation, working a true healing inside and out. I’m going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings. I’ll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I’ll build everything back as good as new. I’ll scrub them clean from the dirt they’ve done against me. I’ll forgive everything they’ve done wrong, forgive all their rebellions. And Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth. They’ll get reports on all the good I’m doing for her. They’ll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her.
10–11 “Yes, God’s Message: ‘You’re going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say, “A wasteland. Unlivable. Not even a dog could live here.” But the time is coming when you’re going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, “Thank God-of-the-Angel-Armies. He’s so good! His love never quits,” as they bring thank offerings into God’s Temple. I’ll restore everything that was lost in this land. I’ll make everything as good as new.’ I, God, say so.
12–13 “God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: ‘This coming desolation, unfit for even a stray dog, is once again going to become a pasture for shepherds who care for their flocks. You’ll see flocks everywhere—in the mountains around the towns of the Shephelah and Negev, all over the territory of Ben-jamin, around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah—flocks under the care of shepherds who keep track of each sheep.’ God says so.
A Fresh and True Shoot from the David-Tree
14–18 “ ‘Watch for this: The time is coming’—God’s Decree—‘when I will keep the promise I made to the families of Israel and Judah. When that time comes, I will make a fresh and true shoot sprout from the David-Tree. He will run this country honestly and fairly. He will set things right. That’s when Judah will be secure and Jerusalem live in safety. The motto for the city will be, “God Has Set Things Right for Us.” God has made it clear that there will always be a descendant of David ruling the people of Israel and that there will always be Levitical priests on hand to offer burnt offerings, present grain offerings, and carry on the sacrificial worship in my honor.’ ”
19–22 God’s Message to Jeremiah: “God says, ‘If my covenant with day and my covenant with night ever fell apart so that day and night became haphazard and you never knew which was coming and when, then and only then would my covenant with my servant David fall apart and his descendants no longer rule. The same goes for the Levitical priests who serve me. Just as you can’t number the stars in the sky nor measure the sand on the seashore, neither will you be able to account for the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who serve me.’ ”
23–24 God’s Message to Jeremiah: “Have you heard the saying that’s making the rounds: ‘The two families God chose, Israel and Judah, he disowned’? And have you noticed that my people are treated with contempt, with rumors afoot that there’s nothing to them anymore?
25–26 “Well, here’s God’s response: ‘If my covenant with day and night wasn’t in working order, if sky and earth weren’t functioning the way I set them going, then, but only then, you might think I had disowned the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David, and that I wouldn’t set up any of David’s descendants over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as it is, I will give them back everything they’ve lost. The last word is, I will have mercy on them.’ ”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 13, 2024
Today's Scripture
2 Chronicles 18:9-16
Meanwhile, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat were seated on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes, resplendent in front of the Samaria city gates. All the prophets were staging a prophecy-performance for their benefit. Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had even made a set of iron horns, and brandishing them, called out, “God’s word! With these horns you’ll gore Aram until there’s nothing left of them!” All the prophets chimed in, “Yes! Go for Ramoth Gilead! An easy victory! God’s gift to the king!”
12 The messenger who went to get Micaiah told him, “The prophets have all said Yes to the king. Make it unanimous—vote Yes!”
13 But Micaiah said, “As sure as God lives, what God says, I’ll say.”
14 With Micaiah before him, the king asked him, “So, Micaiah—do we attack Ramoth Gilead? Or do we hold back?”
“Go ahead,” he said, “an easy victory! God’s gift to the king.”
15 “Not so fast,” said the king. “How many times have I made you promise under oath to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth?”
16 “All right,” said Micaiah, “since you insist …
I saw all of Israel scattered over the hills,
sheep with no shepherd.
Then God spoke, ‘These poor people
have no one to tell them what to do.
Let them go home and do
the best they can for themselves.’ ”
Insight
A similar battle between true and false prophets that’s recorded in 2 Chronicles 18 is also seen in Jeremiah 27-28. The prophet Jeremiah is the solitary voice for truth amid a chorus of false hope (27:9-15) and confronts the lies of the false prophet Hananiah (ch. 28).
In the New Testament, Paul also warned against false prophets and of the day when people “will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). Every believer in Jesus needs to be discerning and boldly speak truth, even where there are those who itch for something else. By: Arthur Jackson
A Solitary Voice
As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says. 2 Chronicles 18:13
After the Paris Peace Conference that concluded World War I, French Marshall Ferdinand Foch bitterly observed, “This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.” Foch’s view contradicted the popular opinion that the horrifying conflict would be the “war to end all wars.” Twenty years and two months later, World War II erupted. Foch was right.
Long ago, Micaiah, the lone true prophet of God present at the time, consistently prophesied dire military results for Israel (2 Chronicles 18:7). In contrast, four hundred of King Ahab’s false prophets foretold victory: “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king,” a court official told Micaiah. “Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably” (v. 12).
Micaiah responded, “I can tell him only what my God says” (v. 13). He prophesied how Israel would be “scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd” (v. 16). Micaiah was right. The Arameans killed Ahab and his army fled (vv. 33-34; 1 Kings 22:35-36).
Like Micaiah, we who follow Jesus share a message that contradicts popular opinion. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Many don’t like that message because it seems harshly narrow. Too exclusive, people say. Yet Christ brings a comforting message that’s inclusive. He welcomes everyone who turns to Him. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
When the Spirit leads you to say or do something, how will you do so in love? When have your own assumptions needed to be challenged by God?
Father, please give me the wisdom to discern Your truth.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 13, 2024
The Habit of a Good Conscience
So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. — Acts 24:16
Conscience is the faculty inside us which attaches itself to the highest ideal we know. Either this ideal is God, or it’s something else. If we are in the habit of steadily facing God, our conscience will always guide us toward his perfect law and indicate what we should do.
The question is, Will I obey what my conscience shows me? It is difficult—too difficult—for human nature to keep God’s commands. But God didn’t give his commands to our human nature; he gave them to the life of Jesus inside us. When I lean on the life of Christ within, following God’s commands becomes divinely easy. I should be living in perfect sympathy with Christ. If I am, my mind will be renewed in every circumstance, and I will be able to discern at once what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2 KJV).
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30). God educates us down to the scruple. Is my ear able to hear the tiniest whisper of the Spirit? The Spirit doesn’t come with a voice like thunder, but with a voice so gentle it is easy to ignore. The one thing that keeps the conscience sensitive to him is the continual habit of being open to God on the inside.
If I sense myself beginning to debate with the Spirit, I must stop immediately. There is no debate possible when conscience speaks. If I allow anything, however small, to obscure my inner communion with God, I do so at my own risk. I must drop the thing, whatever it is, and keep my inner vision clear.
2 Kings 17-18; John 3:19-38
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
When a man’s heart is right with God the mysterious utterances of the Bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart.
Bringing Sons Unto Glory, 231 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 13, 2024
The Glory of Your Story - #9741
If my son wants to be sure he has his sons' attention, all he has to do is start telling a story about when he was a kid or a teenager. They are suddenly all ears - and probably taking notes. Our son has some doozies to tell, believe me - from his days as, shall we say, a "challenging" child. They love to hear stories from his life - and mine, for that matter. We may not always be great listeners - but when someone starts telling their story, we're in. Which may tell us something about how to communicate the only Story on the planet that can change an eternity.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Glory of Your Story."
In many ways, it's getting tougher to have conversations about Jesus with people, isn't it. Their guard is up when there's a hint of you trying to lobby them for your faith... change them... convert them. But there's a way to talk about your Jesus naturally, compellingly, non threateningly. Wrap His story in your story.
Our word for today from the Word of God, in Psalm 107:2, says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their stories." In a Gospel hardened culture, that directive has never been more important or strategic.
When Jesus went into Samaria, He was in hostile territory for a Jew. He didn't go charging into the Samaritan village and start preaching. No, He reached a Samaritan - that woman at the well that came thirsting for water and left with a "spring of eternal life" deep in her soul. And she went back to that village telling her story of the most amazing conversation of her life.
And John tells us that "many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony" (John 4:39). Mark tells us about a demon-possessed man that Jesus delivered. Jesus told him to "go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you...So the man began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed" (Mark 5:19, 20).
That's the glory of your Jesus-story! People can argue with your beliefs, but they can't argue with your story. When the blind man told the hostile religious leaders, "Once I was blind, now I can see," no one could argue.
Peter tells us to be ready to tell about "the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15). If you know Jesus, you have a Hope Story. About the difference Jesus has made and is making in your life. You are living proof that a husband or wife can change... a mom or dad... an angry person... a control freak. You are proof that an addicted person can change...a self-centered person...a depressed person. Because of Jesus.
Think about it. If it weren't for Jesus, what would your lonely times be like? Your depressed times? Your times when everything's out of control? How about when you get bad news from the doctor? Or you're standing by the casket?
Your Hope Story is the most natural way for you to bring up your Jesus. And how do you get to the Gospel? You just weave into your story the message, the discoveries that changed your life. The fact that you were trying to do life away from God. That Jesus came to bridge the canyon your sin created between you and God. But what He did on that cross and that empty tomb opened the way to a life-changing relationship with God and could do the same for them.
In short, you tell how HIS story changed YOUR story - and could change THEIR story forever!
That, my friend, is the glory of your story!