Max Lucado Daily: WHERE ARE YOU? - September 4, 2024
“When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God” (Genesis 3:8 MSG). They hid from God! We’ve been hiding ever since. We cover ourselves in work or status. God sought them out. “God called to the Man: ‘Where are you?’” (v. 9). This was not a question of geography. This was a question of the heart.
And God began sending message after message, miracle after miracle, mercy after mercy. In heaven’s finest act of love, God became human. When Jesus died on the cross, he died our death, he paid our price, he took our place. He, the sinless, became a sinner so that we, the sinners, could be regarded as sinless. As a result, God will walk with his children in the garden again.
What Happens Next
Ezekiel 25
Acts of Vengeance
1–5 25 God’s Message came to me:
“Son of man, face Ammon and preach against the people: Listen to the Message of God, the Master. This is what God has to say: Because you cheered when my Sanctuary was desecrated and the land of Judah was devastated and the people of Israel were taken into exile, I’m giving you over to the people of the east. They’ll move in and make themselves at home, eating the food right off your tables and drinking your milk. I’ll turn your capital, Rabbah, into pasture for camels and all your villages into corrals for flocks. Then you’ll realize that I am God.
6–7 “God, the Master, says, Because you clapped and cheered, venting all your malicious contempt against the land of Israel, I’ll step in and hand you out as loot—first come, first served. I’ll cross you off the roster of nations. There’ll be nothing left of you. And you’ll realize that I am God.”
8–11 “God, the Master, says: Because Moab said, ‘Look, Judah’s nothing special,’ I’ll lay wide open the flank of Moab by exposing its lovely frontier villages to attack: Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. I’ll lump Moab in with Ammon and give them to the people of the east for the taking. Ammon won’t be heard from again. I’ll punish Moab severely. And they’ll realize that I am God.”
12–14 “God, the Master, says: Because Edom reacted against the people of Judah in spiteful revenge and was so criminally vengeful against them, therefore I, God, the Master, will oppose Edom and kill the lot of them, people and animals both. I’ll waste it—corpses stretched from Teman to Dedan. I’ll use my people Israel to bring my vengeance down on Edom. My wrath will fuel their action. And they’ll realize it’s my vengeance. Decree of God the Master.”
15–17 “God, the Master, says: Because the Philistines were so spitefully vengeful—all those centuries of stored-up malice!—and did their best to destroy Judah, therefore I, God, the Master, will oppose the Philistines and cut down the Cretans and anybody else left along the seacoast. Huge acts of vengeance, massive punishments! When I bring vengeance, they’ll realize that I am God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, September 04, 2024
Today's Scripture
Philippians 3:12-21
Focused on the Goal
12–14 I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.
15–16 So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.
17–19 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
20–21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.
Insight
Paul is driven by his urgent passion “to know Christ” (Philippians 3:10). He wants to “know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection” (vv. 10-11). Being transformed to be like the resurrected Christ requires us to pursue that goal with everything we have (vv. 13-14, 17). Yet even as we “press on toward the goal” (v. 14), we know it’s only possible through complete reliance on God, who will one day resurrect believers to finally reflect Christ perfectly (v. 21). By: Monica La Rose
Excelsior!
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14 esv
Sometimes surprisingly spiritual messages turn up in unexpected places, like in a comic book, for example. Marvel Comics publisher Stan Lee passed away in 2018, leaving behind a legacy of such iconic heroes as Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and many others.
The famously smiling man with sunglasses had a personal catchphrase that he used to sign off in monthly columns in Marvel comics for decades—the word excelsior. In a 2010 tweet, Lee explained its meaning: “ ‘Upward and onward to greater glory!’ That’s what I wish you whenever I finish tweeting! Excelsior!”
I like that. Whether Stan Lee realized it or not, his use of this unusual catchphrase certainly resonates with what Paul wrote in Philippians as he admonished believers to look not behind but ahead—and up: “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:13-14 esv).
We can easily become entangled in regrets or second-guessing past decisions. But in Christ, we’re invited to relinquish regrets and to press upward and onward to God’s greater glory through embracing the forgiveness and purpose He so graciously gives us! Excelsior! By: Adam Holz
Reflect & Pray
Why do you tend to look forward or backward in your life and in your faith? How can you let go of past mistakes and move forward?
Heavenly Father, thank You for forgiveness. Thank You that You invite me to move forward, upward, and onward for Your glory.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 04, 2024
His
They were yours; you gave them to me. — John 17:6
A disciple is one in whom the Holy Spirit has forged this realization: “I am not my own.” To say “I am not my own” is to have reached a point of great spiritual nobility. If I am a disciple, I make a sovereign decision to give myself over to Jesus Christ. Then the Holy Spirit comes in to teach me his nature. He teaches me this not so that I’ll hold myself apart from others, like a showroom exhibit of holiness, but in order to make me one with my Lord. Until I am made one with him, he won’t send me out. Jesus Christ waited until after the resurrection to send his disciples to preach the gospel, because only then did the power of the Holy Spirit come upon them, enabling them to perceive who Jesus Christ was and to become one with him.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children . . . such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Jesus doesn’t say, “Such a person cannot be a good and moral individual.” He says, “Such a person cannot be one over whom I write the word mine.” Any of the relationships Jesus mentions may be a competitive relationship. I may prefer to belong to my father or my mother, to my spouse or to myself. If I do, Jesus says I cannot be his disciple. This doesn’t mean I won’t be saved; it simply means I won’t be his.
“You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Our Lord makes his disciples his own possessions. He becomes responsible for them. The spirit the disciple receives isn’t the spirit of hard work or of doing practical things for Jesus. It’s the spirit of love and devotion, of being a perfect delight to him. The secret of the disciple is “I am entirely his, and he is carrying out his work through me.”
Be entirely his.
Psalms 143-145; 1 Corinthians 14:21-40
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”
The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 04, 2024
SOMEONE'S BRIDGE TO HEAVEN - #9823
I once spoke for a large youth conference at one of the East Coast's most popular vacation spots: Ocean City, Maryland. The boardwalk, the hotels, the restaurants, the amusements seem to stretch for miles there. My friend told me he'd been coming to Ocean City since the 1970s, when most of what I was seeing wasn't there. Not that many folks used to come to Ocean City at all. I asked my friend what changed that. He said, "Oh, the bridge." The building of what is called the Bay Bridge opened up this beautiful spot to many people who literally had never experienced it before.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone's Bridge to Heaven."
It's amazing what a difference a bridge can make - it literally brings people and places together. And for most people, there needs to be a bridge for them to get to the most important destination of all - to get to heaven. For some people you know, you are that bridge.
Actually, Jesus has bridged the grand canyon between a holy God and us sinners by His death for our sins. And most people will not make it to Jesus unless a Christian they know is the bridge they can cross to Jesus. You see, your lost friends can't see Jesus. But they can see you. The question is: "Are you taking them to Him?" If you don't, they may never make it to Him. They may never make it to heaven
Jesus spells out your role as His bridge in our word for today from the Word of God. First, there's God's part in bringing a lost person to Him. "God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ." It might be good to put in this verse maybe the name of someone you know who doesn't belong to Jesus as far as you know. "God was reconciling (put their name in there) to Himself in Christ, not counting that person's sins against them. And He has committed to us (put your name in there) the message of reconciliation. We are, therefore, Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us (that's through you). We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." That's 2 Corinthians 5:18-20.
Reconciling. Well, we know what that is; bringing two people together. I think sometimes we make this business we call "witnessing" way too complicated. You don't have to explain all about Christianity, all about Christians, everything the church has ever done, all about the differences between religions. Because it's all about Jesus. He said, "Follow Me." Not my followers, not my religion, not my rules. "Follow Me." I'm glad it's all about Jesus, aren't you?
So His invitation is still the same, "Follow Me." So your assignment as Jesus' ambassador - as Jesus' bridge - is to bring two people together. You take Jesus in one hand, you take that lost person you care about in the other hand and you bring them together - forever. What a beautiful picture! And what a beautiful eternal tribute to the life you lived here. They'll be in heaven with you.
Will you reach out to a person you know who doesn't belong to Jesus yet? There's somebody you know who doesn't know your Jesus. Listen to the Holy Spirit's voice and step up and be their bridge. Would you take them by the hand and walk with them up Skull Hill, and bring them to the bottom of that old rugged cross and let them stand there for a moment and look at what Jesus is doing for them there.
Show them Jesus. Show them His cross, and tell them, "What He's doing on that cross is for you, for every wrong thing you've ever done, and nobody loves you like Jesus does." You are pointing them to the greatest love in the universe, proven at a cross, the greatest power in the universe, proven at an empty tomb.
Listen, our website is there, if you've never begun a relationship with Him, to help you know how to do that. You can go to ANewStory.com.
If that one you know doesn't get to Jesus, they're not going to get to heaven. And they may never get to Jesus without a bridge. That is why God put you there.