Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S WITH US PROMISE - April 10, 2025
Jesus understands you. He’s faced hunger, sorrow, and death and wants to face them with you. The Bible says Jesus “understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NLT).
If Jesus understands our weaknesses, then so does God. Jesus was God in human form. He was God with us. That’s why Jesus is called Immanuel. Immanu means “with us.” El refers to Elohim, or God. So Immanuel is not an “above-us God” or a “somewhere-in-the-neighborhood God.” He came as the “with-us God.” All of us.
“I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 NIV). Search for restrictions on the promise, and you’ll find none. There’s no withholding tax on God’s “with us” promise. God is with us. What great news!
Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name
Job 37
“Whenever this happens, my heart stops—
I’m stunned, I can’t catch my breath.
Listen to it! Listen to his thunder,
the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice.
He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon,
lighting up the earth from pole to pole.
In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice,
powerful and majestic.
He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back.
No one can mistake that voice—
His word thundering so wondrously,
his mighty acts staggering our understanding.
He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth!’
and the rain, ‘Soak the whole countryside!’
No one can escape the weather—it’s there.
And no one can escape from God.
Wild animals take shelter,
crawling into their dens,
When blizzards roar out of the north
and freezing rain crusts the land.
It’s God’s breath that forms the ice,
it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid.
And yes, it’s God who fills clouds with rainwater
and hurls lightning from them every which way.
He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that—
commands them to do what he says all over the world.
Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love,
he makes sure they make their mark.
A Terrible Beauty Streams from God
14–18 “Job, are you listening? Have you noticed all this?
Stop in your tracks! Take in God’s miracle-wonders!
Do you have any idea how God does it all,
how he makes bright lightning from dark storms,
How he piles up the cumulus clouds—
all these miracle-wonders of a perfect Mind?
Why, you don’t even know how to keep cool
on a sweltering hot day,
So how could you even dream
of making a dent in that hot-tin-roof sky?
19–22 “If you’re so smart, give us a lesson in how to address God.
We’re in the dark and can’t figure it out.
Do you think I’m dumb enough to challenge God?
Wouldn’t that just be asking for trouble?
No one in his right mind stares straight at the sun
on a clear and cloudless day.
As gold comes from the northern mountains,
so a terrible beauty streams from God.
23–24 “Mighty God! Far beyond our reach!
Unsurpassable in power and justice!
It’s unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly.
So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all!
If you’re wise, you’ll most certainly worship him.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 10, 2025
by Dave Branon
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Romans 16:1-12
Be sure to welcome our friend Phoebe in the way of the Master, with all the generous hospitality we Christians are famous for. I heartily endorse both her and her work. She’s a key representative of the church at Cenchrea. Help her out in whatever she asks. She deserves anything you can do for her. She’s helped many a person, including me.
3–5 Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked hand in hand with me in serving Jesus. They once put their lives on the line for me. And I’m not the only one grateful to them. All the non-Jewish gatherings of believers also owe them plenty, to say nothing of the church that meets in their house.
Hello to my dear friend Epenetus. He was the very first follower of Jesus in the province of Asia.
6 Hello to Mary. What a worker she has turned out to be!
7 Hello to my cousins Andronicus and Junias. We once shared a jail cell. They were believers in Christ before I was. Both of them are outstanding leaders.
8 Hello to Ampliatus, my good friend in the family of God.
9 Hello to Urbanus, our companion in Christ’s work, and my good friend Stachys.
10 Hello to Apelles, a tried-and-true veteran in following Christ.
Hello to the family of Aristobulus.
11 Hello to my cousin Herodion.
Hello to those who belong to the Lord from the family of Narcissus.
12 Hello to Tryphena and Tryphosa—such diligent women in serving the Master.
Hello to Persis, a dear friend and hard worker in Christ.
Today's Insights
Paul’s list of greetings at the end of Romans represents the many people he met during his journeys of sharing the hope of Jesus. Many of the believers in Christ whom he impacted (and who impacted him in return) ended up in Rome, and so he had a great deal of people waiting there for him before he even arrived. Both men and women shared in the apostle’s work of evangelism, paving the way for him in Rome. As we join with other believers in caring for others, we reflect the hearts of those who assisted Paul.
The Wright Sister
Our sister Phoebe . . . has been the benefactor of many people, including me. Romans 16:1-2
Most people know about the Wright Brothers—Orville and Wilbur—who invented, built, and flew the first successful airplane in the early 1900s. But few know the name Katherine Wright. Yet in her brothers’ story of creating their flying machine, Katherine was essential to their success. While her brothers concentrated on the myriad details and experiments that led to their invention, Katherine chose to quietly and lovingly help them. She kept their bicycle shop going (the brothers’ source of income), left her teaching job to nurse Orville back to health after a plane crash, and managed the endless details of her brothers’ growing fame.
The value of the support of others is seen in Scripture as well. One example is Phoebe, mentioned by Paul as a “benefactor of many people” (Romans 16:2). And Priscilla and Aquila, a helpful couple presented in Paul’s writing, hosted churches where Paul ministered and even “risked their lives” for him (v. 4). Additionally, the apostle complimented Mark, saying he was “helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11).
We can be the right brothers and sisters in Christ by serving others. The ongoing work of God needs helpers like Phoebe—and us—guided by Him to serve this way: “In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but . . . to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4).
Reflect & Pray
Who needs your help? What can you do to serve others in Jesus’ name?
Dear God, please show me how to humbly serve others for Your glory.
Learn to serve like Jesus by Going the Extra Mile.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 10, 2025
Moral Decision about Sin
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. — Romans 6:6
Have I decided that sin will be killed in me? It takes a long time to come to a moral decision about sin, but when I do it is the great moment of my life. In this moment, I decide that just as Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, so sin will be put to death in me. Sin won’t simply be curbed or suppressed or counteracted in me; it will be outright crucified.
No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may think that getting rid of sin is a good idea. We may agree that it’s what our religion asks of us. But what we must do is come to the decision Paul forces us to in Romans 6. Paul doesn’t describe something he hopes God will bring about in the future; he recounts a radical and definite experience: “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1–2).
Am I prepared to let the Spirit of God search me until I see what it means to have a sinful disposition—to have something inside me that wars against the Spirit of God? Will I agree with God’s verdict on that disposition, that it must be identified with the death of Jesus? Have I entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until the only life remaining in my body is the life of Christ? “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
If you haven’t done it already, make the moral decision about sin. Take time alone with God and tell him what you want. Say to him, “Lord, identify me with your death until sin is dead in me.” Only when we’ve been through this radical moment of decision can we consider ourselves dead to sin.
1 Samuel 15-16; Luke 10:25-42
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man.
Disciples Indeed, 388 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 10, 2025
When You're Marching Off the Map - #9979
Maybe you've seen those old world maps that were created when a lot of the world was still unexplored. When they reached the edge of what had been explored, they drew a line and then they showed dragons and monsters beyond it - which didn't exactly encourage exploration. The story is told of this first century Roman commander who had to lead his troops beyond the line on the map and into "dragon" territory. He sent a courier back to Rome with a straightforward message - "We have just marched off the map! Please send new orders!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You're Marching Off the Map."
That describes how a whole lot of us are feeling since things changed so dramatically back on September 11, 2001 and all of the cataclysmic, unpredictable, unimaginable events that have come since then. We have marched off the map! Things are up for grabs with the economy; a lot of people feel their jobs are insecure. Our personal sense of safety and security have really never been the same. It has turned to a sense of vulnerability. There are prospects of bioterrorism and cyber terrorism. USA Today talked about DEFCON 1, the military's phrase for their highest state of alert - and they said a lot of us feel like we're living at DEFCON 1.
We need some certainty after covid and all the upheavals; we need some leadership. We want to hear from our national leaders, from our military leaders, from our financial leaders, but none of them can give us that sense of peace and security that we're needing in this "new world" that's off the map. What we're looking for can ultimately only be found in the leader. That would be the One who created us. The issues of our day and the questions of our heart are just too big to be answered by anyone other than God Himself.
In times like these, I am so glad Jesus described His relationship with those who belong to Him as one of a shepherd. Because with no clear direction these days, we're feeling a little like sheep. Here's what Jesus offered to people like us in times like these - it's in our word for today from the Word of God in John 10, beginning in verse 3, "He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out - He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him." Later, Jesus said, "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand."
There is someone who knows the way to go when there is no map and He's the Lord of this universe! And Jesus leads those who belong to Him, giving them daily direction and daily provision, no matter what's happening in the headlines. And He never loses anyone that's His - because, in the words of John 10, He "laid down His life for the sheep." Jesus died for every wrong thing you've ever done so you could belong to Him forever. He's not about to lose you after paying that price for you!
The Bible tells us that Jesus weeps for those who are, as He says, "sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). That might be you today. But it doesn't have to be you for one more day. He's reaching out to you right now. He's ready to be your Shepherd in these confusing times; your anchor in the stormy times we live in and the storms of our own personal lives.
Your relationship with Him begins when you tell Him you're done trying to be your own shepherd, running your own life and that you want to put your total trust in Him to forgive every sin you've ever committed, to direct your life from this day on, and to get you to heaven when you die.
That's what He's waiting to give you. He's waiting for you to say, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You are my only hope. Your death on the cross, your resurrection from the dead...I want to belong to you, beginning today." Our website is all about helping you get that relationship started. I would invite you to go there. It is ANewStory.com.
We have marched off the map. But Jesus knows exactly where we are - and what the future holds. And He can take you there safely...but, you have to grab His hand.
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