Max Lucado Daily: ACKNOWLEDGE GOD’S PRESENCE - October 15, 2024
As Romans 12:18 instructs, “As you do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible,” it’ll also come as you pray.
For ten days Jesus’ disciples prayed. Ten days of prayer, plus a few minutes of preaching, led to three thousand saved souls. Perhaps we invert the numbers. We’re prone to pray for a few minutes and then preach for ten days! Not the apostles. They lingered in Jesus’ presence. They never left the place of prayer.
Are you wondering, “My business needs attention, my children need dinner, my bills need paying. How can I stay in one place of prayer?” Think of it less as an activity for God and more as an awareness of God. Uninterrupted awareness. Acknowledge his presence everywhere you go!
Come Thirsty
Haggai 2
This Temple Will End Up Better Than It Started Out
1–3 2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the Word of God came through the prophet Haggai: “Tell Governor Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and High Priest Joshua son of Jehozadak and all the people: ‘Is there anyone here who saw the Temple the way it used to be, all glorious? And what do you see now? Not much, right?
4–5 “ ‘So get to work, Zerubbabel!’—God is speaking.
“ ‘Get to work, Joshua son of Jehozadak—high priest!’
“ ‘Get to work, all you people!’—God is speaking.
“ ‘Yes, get to work! For I am with you.’ The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is speaking! ‘Put into action the word I covenanted with you when you left Egypt. I’m living and breathing among you right now. Don’t be timid. Don’t hold back.’
6–7 “This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies said: ‘Before you know it, I will shake up sky and earth, ocean and fields. And I’ll shake down all the godless nations. They’ll bring bushels of wealth and I will fill this Temple with splendor.’ God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.
8 ‘I own the silver,
I own the gold.’
Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
9 “ ‘This Temple is going to end up far better than it started out, a glorious beginning but an even more glorious finish: a place in which I will hand out wholeness and holiness.’ Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.”
10–12 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (again, this was in the second year of Darius), God’s Message came to Haggai: “God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks: Consult the priests for a ruling. If someone carries a piece of sacred meat in his pocket, meat that is set apart for sacrifice on the altar, and the pocket touches a loaf of bread, a dish of stew, a bottle of wine or oil, or any other food, will these foods be made holy by such contact?”
The priests said, “No.”
13 Then Haggai said, “How about someone who is contaminated by touching a corpse—if that person touches one of these foods, will it be contaminated?”
The priests said, “Yes, it will be contaminated.”
14 Then Haggai said, “ ‘So, this people is contaminated. Their nation is contaminated. Everything they do is contaminated. Whatever they do for me is contaminated.’ God says so.
15–17 “ ‘Think back. Before you set out to lay the first foundation stones for the rebuilding of my Temple, how did it go with you? Isn’t it true that your foot-dragging, halfhearted efforts at rebuilding the Temple of God were reflected in a sluggish, halfway return on your crops—half the grain you were used to getting, half the wine? I hit you with drought and blight and hail. Everything you were doing got hit. But it didn’t seem to faze you. You continued to ignore me.’ God’s Decree.
18–19 “ ‘Now think ahead from this same date—this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Think ahead from when the Temple rebuilding was launched. Has anything in your fields—vine, fig tree, pomegranate, olive tree—failed to flourish? From now on you can count on a blessing.’ ”
20–21 God’s Message came a second time to Haggai on that most memorable day, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month: “Speak to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah:
21–23 “ ‘I am about to shake up everything, to turn everything upside down and start over from top to bottom—overthrow governments, destroy foreign powers, dismantle the world of weapons and armaments, throw armies into confusion, so that they end up killing one another. And on that day’ ”—this is God’s Message—“ ‘I will take you, O Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, as my personal servant and I will set you as a signet ring, the sign of my sovereign presence and authority. I’ve looked over the field and chosen you for this work.’ ” The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Today's Scripture
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.
26–27 I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.
Insight
Paul’s original audience would have immediately resonated with his sports metaphors. Corinth hosted the Isthmian games on the years before and after the Olympic games. The athletes who competed were required by the rules to train for a minimum of ten months. Failing to do so would disqualify them entirely.
In his letter to the Corinthian believers in Jesus, the apostle exhorts them to live with the same kind of discipline that an athlete would have (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)—not to compete in the games but to live faithfully in the example of Christ (Hebrews 12:1-3). He’s not pitting them against each other like the games would, but he does call them to the same level of commitment in following Jesus. Instead of ten months, though, the life of the believer in Him calls us to a lifetime of growing discipline aimed at walking in His footsteps and ultimately sharing in His prize (2 Thessalonians 2:14). By: Jed Ostoich
A Disciplined Life in God
I discipline my body and keep it under control. 1 Corinthians 9:27 esv
It was June 2016 during the official celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s ninetieth birthday. From her carriage, the monarch waved to the crowds, passing in front of long lines of red-coated soldiers standing at perfect, unflinching attention. It was a warm day in England, and the guards were dressed in their traditional dark wool pants, wool jackets buttoned to the chin, and massive bear-fur hats. As the soldiers stood in rigid rows under the sun, one guard began to faint. Remarkably, he maintained his strict control and simply fell forward, his body remaining straight as a board as he planted his face in the sandy gravel. There he lay—somehow still at attention.
It took years of practice and discipline for this guard to learn such self-control, to hold his body in place even as he was falling unconscious. The apostle Paul describes such training: “I discipline my body and keep it under control,” he wrote (1 Corinthians 9:27 esv). Paul recognized that “everyone who competes . . . goes into strict training” (v. 25).
While God’s grace (not our efforts) undergirds all we do, our spiritual life deserves rigorous discipline. As God helps us discipline our mind, heart, and body, we learn to keep our attention fixed on Him, even amid trials or distractions. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
Where is it most difficult for you to discipline your heart, mind, or body? How do you sense God inviting you into deeper discipline?
Dear God, please teach me how to be more disciplined for You. I want to grow my love for You and keep my heart close to You.
For further study, read The Sword, The Son, and a Rest for God’s People.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
The Key to the Missionary’s Message
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. — 1 John 2:2
The key to the missionary’s message is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Take any phase of Christ’s work—the healing phase, the teaching phase, the saving and sanctifying phase. There’s nothing limitless about any of these. But “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)—that is limitless, and that is the missionary’s message. A missionary is one who has soaked in this revelation and has made it the basis of his or her appeal.
The key to the missionary’s message isn’t Jesus Christ’s kindness and goodness. It’s the great limitless significance of the fact that “he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” The missionary’s message isn’t patriotic. It has no allegiance to nations or to individuals. It’s meant for the whole world. When the Holy Spirit comes in, he doesn’t consider personal preferences. He simply brings everyone he touches into union with Jesus Christ.
A missionary is one who is wedded to Jesus Christ’s own message. A missionary has no desire to proclaim a personal point of view, only to proclaim the Lamb of God. It’s easier to share personal stories of salvation. It’s easier to be a devotee of divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul didn’t say, “Woe to me if I do not preach what the gospel has done for me.” He said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). What is the gospel? Only this: “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Isaiah 45-46; 1 Thessalonians 3
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
No one could have had a more sensitive love in human relationship than Jesus; and yet He says there are times when love to father and mother must be hatred in comparison to our love for Him.
So Send I You, 1301 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Hope is a Rescuer - #9852
"Active shooter in Colorado Springs." It was years ago but I got that news alert, and I turned to a news channel right away. I've got friends in that city.
After a violent five-hour siege, the gunman surrendered. And the tragic count of dead and wounded began to become clear, but so did the heroism in the middle of that fear and violence. Like Garrett Swasey, one of the first officers on the scene rushing to save lives. He lost his. His courage and sacrifice were a bright light in the dark sky of that tragic afternoon. Selfless love when evil seemed so strong.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope is a Rescuer."
Garrett Swasey was a real three-dimensional guy, a former ice dancing champion, a great husband and dad, a pastor, a dedicated police officer; a man who lived his last day like he lived every day. As a friend said, "always putting other people's lives before his own." That friend explained why. He said, "He believed in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. That's what he lived for."
Apparently, it's also what made him willing to die to save others. His friend said, "Here's a man who loves Christ, and he'd be willing to go in and lay down his life, because that's what Christ has done for us." You know, we've got a lot to learn from a true hero like this.
First, ultimately, there are two categories that really matter. Don't we deal with most people as if they're a category: young, old, black, white, brown, rich, poor, Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, gay, straight, Christian, homeless, cop or whatever? Except God didn't make any categories. He only made people created in His image.
That day during the shooting, Garrett Swasey saw only two categories: safe and endangered. That's what God sees, too. Spiritually safe described this way, "He who has the Son (Jesus) has life." And then spiritually endangered. The Bible says in that same verse, "He who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12). Those who have trusted the One who died for their sins as the Rescuer from their sins and those who have not.
As one of those who chose to be rescued, I know what I must do. I have to see the spiritually endangered people around me and go in for the rescue so they can have the chance I had - to live forever.
Secondly, I think we learn from the heroes of that day, forgiven people have no choice but to forgive. "Forgive as the Lord forgave you," the Bible says in Colossians 3:13. Garrett Swasey's friend said, "There's forgiveness in the cross of Christ. And that's what Garrett would want for us, to forgive this man." That's the man who shot him. That's what the loved ones of those Charleston church shooting victims did, amazing the nation. That's what Jesus did for the ones who crucified Him, "Father, forgive them."
Third lesson here, our only hope is a rescuer. Actually, the Rescuer. In our word for today from the Word of God in Galatians 1:4, God's book reveals that "Jesus gave His life for our sins...to rescue us from this evil world we live in." I want to tell you, that's the sacrifice that blew my mind and captured my heart.
I hope you will open up to that love today, because He went to that cross for you as much as He did for me; paying for the sins that have separated you from God, and will forever unless He forgives them. And He can do that based on what He did on the cross.
I'd love to have you know for sure you belong to Him. So I'm going to invite you to our website because I think we can help you make sure you've begun your relationship with Him and are forgiven of your sins. It's ANewStory.com. Remember that. Please check it out.
None of us has to die. The Rescuer has come.