Max Lucado Daily: DON’T NEGLECT THE HOLY SPIRIT - August 5, 2024
Some time ago I realized my car’s gas tank was nearly empty. I spotted a convenience store and parked next to a pump. I placed the nozzle in my tank, and swiped my card, and began filling up my car. I then went into the store and bought a soda. I chatted with the store clerk. I went back to my car and washed the windshield. I was barely back on the road when I happened to look at my gas gauge. It was on empty! Knowing my attention span, I probably forgot to squeeze the lever.
I did everything except the one thing I needed to do. Have you done the same? Have you neglected the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God longs to give you his great power. Challenges come with life, but they need not define your life. Help is here.
Ezekiel 13
People Who Love Listening to Lies
1–2 13 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, preach against the prophets of Israel who are making things up out of their own heads and calling it ‘prophesying.’
2–6 “Preach to them the real thing. Tell them, ‘Listen to God’s Message!’ God, the Master, pronounces doom on the empty-headed prophets who do their own thing and know nothing of what’s going on! Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals scavenging through the ruins. They haven’t lifted a finger to repair the defenses of the city and have risked nothing to help Israel stand on God’s Day of Judgment. All they do is fantasize comforting illusions and preach lying sermons. They say ‘God says …’ when God hasn’t so much as breathed in their direction. And yet they stand around thinking that something they said is going to happen.
7–9 “Haven’t you fantasized sheer nonsense? Aren’t your sermons tissues of lies, saying ‘God says …’ when I’ve done nothing of the kind? Therefore—and this is the Message of God, the Master, remember—I’m dead set against prophets who substitute illusions for visions and use sermons to tell lies. I’m going to ban them from the council of my people, remove them from membership in Israel, and outlaw them from the land of Israel. Then you’ll realize that I am God, the Master.
10–12 “The fact is that they’ve lied to my people. They’ve said, ‘No problem; everything’s just fine,’ when things are not at all fine. When people build a wall, they’re right behind them slapping on whitewash. Tell those who are slapping on the whitewash, ‘When a torrent of rain comes and the hailstones crash down and the hurricane sweeps in and the wall collapses, what’s the good of the whitewash that you slapped on so liberally, making it look so good?’
13–14 “And that’s exactly what will happen. I, God, the Master, say so: ‘I’ll let the hurricane of my wrath loose, a torrent of my hailstone-anger. I’ll make that wall you’ve slapped with whitewash collapse. I’ll level it to the ground so that only the foundation stones will be left. And in the ruin you’ll all die. You’ll realize then that I am God.
15–16 “ ‘I’ll dump my wrath on that wall, all of it, and on those who plastered it with whitewash. I will say to them, There is no wall, and those who did such a good job of whitewashing it wasted their time, those prophets of Israel who preached to Jerusalem and announced all their visions telling us things were just fine when they weren’t at all fine. Decree of God, the Master.’
17–19 “And the women prophets—son of man, take your stand against the women prophets who make up stuff out of their own minds. Oppose them. Say ‘Doom’ to the women who sew magic bracelets and head scarves to suit every taste, devices to trap souls. Say, ‘Will you kill the souls of my people, use living souls to make yourselves rich and popular? You have profaned me among my people just to get ahead yourselves, used me to make yourselves look good—killing souls who should never have died and coddling souls who shouldn’t live. You’ve lied to people who love listening to lies.’
20–21 “Therefore God says, ‘I am against all the devices and techniques you use to hunt down souls. I’ll rip them out of your hands. I’ll free the souls you’re trying to catch. I’ll rip your magic bracelets and scarves to shreds and deliver my people from your influence so they’ll no longer be victimized by you. That’s how you’ll come to realize that I am God.
22–23 “ ‘Because you’ve confounded and confused good people, unsuspecting and innocent people, with your lies, and because you’ve made it easy for others to persist in evil so that it wouldn’t even dawn on them to turn to me so I could save them, as of now you’re finished. No more delusion-mongering from you, no more sermonic lies. I’m going to rescue my people from your clutches. And you’ll realize that I am God.’ ”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, August 05, 2024
Today's Scripture
Romans 12:9-18
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
11–13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
14–16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
17–19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody.
Insight
As a rule, Paul’s letters to churches (Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians) are written in two major sections. The first section is more doctrinal, teaching his readers about the faith we have in Jesus. The second section is practical, revealing wise guidance for how we live out that faith. One teacher put it this way: the first section is about what we believe, and the second section is about how we behave. In Romans, arguably Paul’s most heavily theological letter, we find this pattern exemplified. In Romans 1-11, we’re taught what it means that salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus. In chapters 12-16, he explains how those beliefs impact our conduct, with some attention to how our faith impacts our relationships. As you read Paul’s New Testament church letters, look for this pattern and see how the apostle crafted his message under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Learn more about Paul’s letters to churches.
By: Bill Crowder
Reflecting Christ’s Character
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
Two faces at the table stood out—one contorted by bitter anger, the other twisted in emotional pain. A reunion of old friends had just erupted into shouting, with one woman berating another for her beliefs. The contention continued until the first woman stomped out of the restaurant, leaving the other shaken and humiliated.
Are we really living in a time when a difference of opinion can’t be tolerated? Just because two people can’t agree doesn’t mean that either is evil. Speech that’s harsh or unyielding is never persuasive, and strong views shouldn’t overcome decency or compassion.
Romans 12 is a great guide for how to “honor one another,” and “live in harmony” with other people (vv. 10, 16). Jesus indicated that an identifying characteristic for believers in Him is the love we have for each other (John 13:35). While pride and anger can easily derail us, they’re in direct contrast to the love God wants us to show to others.
It’s a challenge not to blame others when we lose control of our emotions, but the words “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” show us that the responsibility for living a life that reflects Christ’s character can’t be shifted to anyone else (Romans 12:18). It lies with each one of us who bears His name. By: Cindy Hess Kasper
Reflect & Pray
What words of other people trigger anger or resentment in you? How can you turn a bad situation into a peaceful one?
Loving God, please help me to show Your love through what I say and do and whenever possible to live at peace with others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, August 05, 2024
The Baffling Call of God
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.” . . . The disciples did not understand. — Luke 18:31,34
God called Jesus Christ to what seemed like unmitigated disaster. Jesus Christ called his disciples to see him put to death; he led them to the place where their hearts were broken and baffled. Jesus Christ’s life was an absolute failure from every viewpoint but God’s. But what seemed like failure to the world was a tremendous triumph to God, because God’s purpose is never humanity’s.
The baffling call of God comes in our lives, too. The call of God can never be stated outright. It is like the call of the sea. No one hears the call of the sea but those who have the nature of the sea within them. Similarly, no one hears the call of God but those who have God dwelling within them by the power of his Holy Spirit.
It cannot be stated definitely what the call of God is to; he calls us to enter into a relationship with him for his own purpose. The test is to believe that, though we cannot understand him, God knows what he is doing. Nothing happens by chance, only by his decree.
When we are in communion with God and recognize that he is taking us up into his purpose, we will stop trying to find out what his purpose is. This gets simpler as we go on in Christian life, because we begin to see that behind everything lies the great compelling of God.
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” A Christian is one who trusts the wits and wisdom of God. If instead we trust our own wits and wisdom, if we go off pursuing our own ends, we will destroy the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize our lives as children of God.
Psalms 68-69; Romans 8:1-21
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, August 05, 2024
When Your Life is Too Small - #9801
There's nothing in nature I love to see more than an eagle soaring majestically through the sky. That's why I enjoy the story of the farmer who once found a little eaglet all alone in the woods. And since the little bird was struggling to survive, the farmer decided to take the eaglet back to his farm to raise him. The problem was the only birds he had on his farm were chickens, and that's who the eaglet was raised with. So, as the chickens walked around looking down and pecking on the ground for chicken feed, the eaglet learned to live the same way. Now poking around for chicken feed looks okay on a chicken – no way for an eagle to live.
So when the farmer felt the eagle was big and strong enough to survive on his own, he took him out to the back forty to help him learn to fly. Twice he tried to launch that great bird by throwing him skyward, and twice the eagle flopped to the ground and, you guessed it, started poking around for more chicken feed. The farmer had one last idea. He set the eagle on the highest fence post he had. And that's when it happened. The eagle looked up for the first time and he saw the sky. He saw the sun. And suddenly, this great cry came from his mouth, he spread those broad wings, and he took off from that fence post. At first, he just flew in small circles over the farmer's head, but then he took off for the sky, soaring toward the sun. He's an eagle! He's not born to poke around in the chicken feed. He's born to fly. So are you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Your Life is Too Small."
Maybe these words would basically describe how you would size up your life these days: "It's not bad; it's just not enough." Things are going okay. Nothing's melting down. But you're inexplicably, incurably restless. There's never enough love. There's never enough fulfillment, never enough peace. Something's missing.
It could be that you're surviving, but not really living like you were designed to live. You might say you're poking around in the chicken feed like everyone else around you. But you were created for something much bigger, much higher, and your soul knows that. It's like this voice inside of you that goes, "You're made for more." And you'll never be complete; you'll never have peace until you live where you were created to live.
Your real worth, your real identity is spelled out in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 2:10 where it says, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God says you were made by Him, you were made for Him and for a purpose and plan that is bigger than anything you could ever find with you running your life.
And that's why our lives are too small to satisfy us. Because we are running our own lives. The Bible calls that sin. The Bible also says, "God has placed eternity in the hearts of men." You were born to fly, but without Jesus in your heart, you're looking down, living on chicken feed. Sin has grounded us.
And that's why you need to be, as the Bible says, "in Christ Jesus." God's Son went all the way to a cross to die for the sinning that you and I have done. He wanted you to be forgiven. He wanted you to be in the arms of the God who made you, so you don't have to waste one more day outside the awesome plan you were made for. God's wanting to enlarge your life beyond anything you could have ever dreamed.
But maybe you've never really asked this Jesus, who loves you more than anyone, to come in and begin, in your life, this life-changing relationship. Let this be the day you turn it around. You want to begin this relationship? Tell Jesus you're putting your total trust in Him right now to remove the sin that's keeping you from Him.
Our website's all about beginning that relationship, this would be a great time for you to check it out - ANewStory.com.
You're destined for the sky; you're meant for heaven, for bigger things. It's time to look toward the Son - S-O-N - the Son of God who loved you enough to die for you.