Max Lucado: Doubt—An Unwanted Visitor
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Doubt. He’s a lousy neighbor. An unwanted visitor. An obnoxious guest. And he’ll pester you. He’ll irritate you. He’ll criticize your judgment.
His aim is not to convince you, but to confuse you. He doesn’t offer solutions. Doubt only raises questions.
Had any visit from this fellow lately? If you find yourself going to church in order to be saved and not because you’re saved, then you’ve been listening to him.
If you find yourself doubting that God could forgive you again for that, you’ve been sold some snake oil.
If you’re more cynical about Christians than sincere about Christ, then guess who came to dinner?
I suggest you put a lock on your gate. I suggest you post a “Do not enter” sign on your door! Say no to doubt.
Nehemiah 9
Then on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the People of Israel gathered for a fast, wearing burlap and faces smudged with dirt as signs of repentance. The Israelites broke off all relations with foreigners, stood up, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their parents. While they stood there in their places, they read from the Book of The Revelation of God, their God, for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed and worshiped their God.
4–5 A group of Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the platform and cried out to God, their God, in a loud voice. The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, “On your feet! Bless God, your God, for ever and ever!”
5–6 Blessed be your glorious name,
exalted above all blessing and praise!
You’re the one,
God, you alone;
You made the heavens,
the heavens of heavens, and all angels;
The earth and everything on it,
the seas and everything in them;
You keep them all alive;
heaven’s angels worship you!
7–8 You’re the one, God, the God
who chose Abram
And brought him from Ur of the Chaldees
and changed his name to Abraham.
You found his heart to be steady and true to you
and signed a covenant with him,
A covenant to give him the land of the Canaanites,
the Hittites, and the Amorites,
The Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites,
—to give it to his descendants.
And you kept your word
because you are righteous.
9–15 You saw the anguish of our parents in Egypt.
You heard their cries at the Red Sea;
You amazed Pharaoh, his servants, and the people of his land
with wonders and miracle-signs.
You knew their bullying arrogance against your people;
you made a name for yourself that lasts to this day.
You split the sea before them;
they crossed through and never got their feet wet;
You pitched their pursuers into the deep;
they sank like a rock in the storm-tossed sea.
By day you led them with a Pillar of Cloud,
and by night with a Pillar of Fire
To show them the way
they were to travel.
You came down onto Mount Sinai,
you spoke to them out of heaven;
You gave them instructions on how to live well,
true teaching, sound rules and commands;
You introduced them
to your Holy Sabbath;
Through your servant Moses you decreed
commands, rules, and instruction.
You gave bread from heaven for their hunger,
you sent water from the rock for their thirst.
You told them to enter and take the land,
which you promised to give them.
16–19 But they, our ancestors, were arrogant;
bullheaded, they wouldn’t obey your commands.
They turned a deaf ear, they refused
to remember the miracles you had done for them;
They turned stubborn, got it into their heads
to return to their Egyptian slavery.
And you, a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
Incredibly patient, with tons of love—
you didn’t dump them.
Yes, even when they cast a sculpted calf
and said, “This is your god
Who brought you out of Egypt,”
and continued from bad to worse,
You in your amazing compassion
didn’t walk off and leave them in the desert.
The Pillar of Cloud didn’t leave them;
daily it continued to show them their route;
The Pillar of Fire did the same by night,
showed them the right way to go.
20–23 You gave them your good Spirit
to teach them to live wisely.
You never stinted with your manna,
gave them plenty of water to drink.
You supported them forty years in that desert;
they had everything they needed;
Their clothes didn’t wear out
and their feet never blistered.
You gave them kingdoms and peoples,
establishing generous boundaries.
They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon
and the country of Og king of Bashan.
You multiplied children for them,
rivaling the stars in the night skies,
And you brought them into the land
that you promised their ancestors
they would get and own.
24–25 Well, they entered all right,
they took it and settled in.
The Canaanites who lived there
you brought to their knees before them.
You turned over their land, kings, and peoples
to do with as they pleased.
They took strong cities and fertile fields,
they took over well-furnished houses,
Cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
and lush, extensive orchards.
And they ate, grew fat on the fat of the land;
they reveled in your bountiful goodness.
26–31 But then they mutinied, rebelled against you,
threw out your laws and killed your prophets,
The very prophets who tried to get them back on your side—
and then things went from bad to worse.
You turned them over to their enemies,
who made life rough for them.
But when they called out for help in their troubles
you listened from heaven;
And in keeping with your bottomless compassion
you gave them saviors:
Saviors who saved them
from the cruel abuse of their enemies.
But as soon as they had it easy again
they were right back at it—more evil.
So you turned away and left them again to their fate,
to the enemies who came right back.
They cried out to you again; in your great compassion
you heard and helped them again.
This went on over and over and over.
You warned them to return to your Revelation,
they responded with haughty arrogance:
They flouted your commands, spurned your rules
—the very words by which men and women live!
They set their jaws in defiance,
they turned their backs on you and didn’t listen.
You put up with them year after year
and warned them by your spirit through your prophets;
But when they refused to listen
you abandoned them to foreigners.
Still, because of your great compassion,
you didn’t make a total end to them.
You didn’t walk out and leave them for good;
yes, you are a God of grace and compassion.
32–37 And now, our God, the great God,
God majestic and terrible, loyal in covenant and love,
Don’t treat lightly the trouble that has come to us,
to our kings and princes, our priests and prophets,
Our ancestors, and all your people from the time
of the Assyrian kings right down to today.
You are not to blame
for all that has come down on us;
You did everything right,
we did everything wrong.
None of our kings, princes, priests, or ancestors
followed your Revelation;
They ignored your commands,
dismissed the warnings you gave them.
Even when they had their own kingdom
and were enjoying your generous goodness,
Living in that spacious and fertile land
that you spread out before them,
They didn’t serve you
or turn their backs on the practice of evil.
And here we are, slaves again today;
and here’s the land you gave our ancestors
So they could eat well and enjoy a good life,
and now look at us—no better than slaves on this land.
Its wonderful crops go to the kings
you put over us because of our sins;
They act like they own our bodies
and do whatever they like with our cattle.
We’re in deep trouble.
38 “Because of all this we are drawing up a binding pledge, a sealed document signed by our princes, our Levites, and our priests.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 05, 2025
by Marvin Williams
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Psalm 139:1-12
God, investigate my life;
get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
then up ahead and you’re there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can’t take it all in!
7–12 Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.
Today's Insights
Psalm 139 is one of the most intimate of the psalms. Such closeness comes through in David’s extensive use of second- and first-person pronouns. John Stott makes this observation in his book Authentic Christianity: “ Psalm 139 is arguably the most radical statement in the Old Testament of God’s personal relationship to the individual. Personal pronouns and possessives occur in the first person (I, me, my) forty-six times and in the second person (you, yours) thirty-two times.” This intimacy prompts the psalmist’s praise (vv. 14, 17-18) and prayers that consider his and God’s enemies (vv. 19-22) and his desire for deeper communion with Him: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23-24).
God Knows Everything
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. Psalm 139:3 nlt
God truly knows all. But according to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the National Security Agency knows a great deal about us as well through our smartphone data trails. Everyone who owns a cell phone creates “metadata” that leaves a “digital trail.” While each individual crumb of data might seem insignificant, when it’s combined and analyzed, it provides “one of the most powerful investigative tools ever devised.” By tracing our metadata, investigators can pinpoint where we’ve been or where we are at any given moment.
Far more superior than the NSA’s digital trail analysis, David said God knows where we are in relation to Him. In Psalm 139, he addresses a prayer to God, the one who alone can search and examine what’s going on inside of us (v. 1). The psalmist wrote, “Search me, God, and know my heart” (v. 23). He knows everything about us (vv. 2-6), is present everywhere (vv. 7-12), and “created [our] inmost being” (vv. 13-16). His thoughts are higher than our human understanding (vv. 17-18), and He’s even with us as we face our enemies (vv. 19-22).
Because God is all-knowing, ever-present, and all-powerful, He knows exactly where we’ve been, what we’ve been doing, and what we’re made of. But He’s also a loving Father who will help us walk in His ways. Let’s follow Him down the trail of life today.
Reflect & Pray
How does it encourage you to know God truly knows you? How are you walking with Him?
Dear God, thank You for loving me even though You know all about me. Please help me to walk well with You.
Discover how God knows and sees all with this video.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 05, 2025
Not Now, but Later
Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later. —John 13:36
When Peter first encountered Jesus, he was fascinated. Jesus said, “Follow me,” and Peter went easily. Then he denied Jesus three times, his heart broke, and fascination turned to shame. When Jesus called to him again, Peter could go only because he’d received the Holy Spirit. The first time Peter followed, there was nothing mystical about it. The second was based on a supernatural change, an internal martyrdom made possible by the Spirit (John 21:18).
Between these two moments, Peter denied Jesus with oaths and curses. He came to the limits of himself, the end of his human power. Destitute and empty, realizing he could no longer trust himself, he was finally ready to receive the gift of the Spirit. “[Jesus] breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (20:22). Now, when Peter looked to Jesus, all he saw was Jesus: not the dreams that had enchanted him before, not a vision of himself playing the devoted follower. God had changed Peter, awakening shame and self-knowledge inside him. Yet even these changes Peter knew not to count on. He’d learned to count only on a person—on Jesus himself—and on the Spirit he gives.
“Receive the Holy Spirit”: it is an invasion, one that cannot happen until we come to the end of ourselves. We must come to this end not just in our imaginations but really. When we do, we realize that, in fact, we never did have any power of our own. That’s why all our vows and resolutions ended in failure.
Now, on the other side of that failure, we see clearly. Only one star shines in our sky—our lodestar, Jesus Christ.
Genesis 13-15; Matthew 5:1-26
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
We must keep ourselves in touch, not with theories, but with people, and never get out of touch with human beings, if we are going to use the word of God skilfully amongst them.
Workmen of God, 1341 L
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