Max Lucado Daily: THE PORCH OF HEAVEN - January 2, 2025
THE PORCH OF HEAVEN - January 2, 2025
Paradise: the next stop on our journey. That is the term Jesus used with the dying thief on the cross. Is Paradise the same as heaven? Sort of. John Wesley called Paradise “only the porch of Heaven.” It is simply the gathering place of the saved until Christ comes for his children.
The Greek word for paradise refers to a walled park or garden. Early readers of Jesus’ promise to the thief would have thought of Eden’s garden—a tangible, touchable location. Why would we think heaven’s Paradise is any different? God’s garden occupies the center of Paradise. What a joy it will be to see it!
What Happens Next
Revelation 17
Great Babylon, Mother of Whores
1–2 17 One of the Seven Angels who carried the seven bowls came and invited me, “Come, I’ll show you the judgment of the great Whore who sits enthroned over many waters, the Whore with whom the kings of the earth have gone whoring, show you the judgment on earth dwellers drunk on her whorish lust.”
3–6 In the Spirit he carried me out in the desert. I saw a woman mounted on a Scarlet Beast. Stuffed with blasphemies, the Beast had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, festooned with gold and gems and pearls. She held a gold chalice in her hand, brimming with defiling obscenities, her foul fornications. A riddle-name was branded on her forehead: great babylon, mother of whores and abominations of the earth. I could see that the woman was drunk, drunk on the blood of God’s holy people, drunk on the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
6–8 Astonished, I rubbed my eyes. I shook my head in wonder. The Angel said, “Does this surprise you? Let me tell you the riddle of the woman and the Beast she rides, the Beast with seven heads and ten horns. The Beast you saw once was, is no longer, and is about to ascend from the Abyss and head straight for Hell. Earth dwellers whose names weren’t written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be dazzled when they see the Beast that once was, is no longer, and is to come.
9–11 “But don’t drop your guard. Use your head. The seven heads are seven hills; they are where the woman sits. They are also seven kings: five dead, one living, the other not yet here—and when he does come his time will be brief. The Beast that once was and is no longer is both an eighth and one of the seven—and headed for Hell.
12–14 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings, but they’re not yet in power. They will come to power with the Scarlet Beast, but won’t last long—a very brief reign. These kings will agree to turn over their power and authority to the Beast. They will go to war against the Lamb but the Lamb will defeat them, proof that he is Lord over all lords, King over all kings, and those with him will be the called, chosen, and faithful.”
15–18 The Angel continued, “The waters you saw on which the Whore was enthroned are peoples and crowds, nations and languages. And the ten horns you saw, together with the Beast, will turn on the Whore—they’ll hate her, violate her, strip her naked, rip her apart with their teeth, then set fire to her. It was God who put the idea in their heads to turn over their rule to the Beast until the words of God are completed. The woman you saw is the great city, tyrannizing the kings of the earth.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 02, 2025
by Winn Collier
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 51:1-6
Committed to Seeking God
1–3 51 “Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living
and committed to seeking God.
Ponder the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug.
Yes, ponder Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who bore you.
Think of it! One solitary man when I called him,
but once I blessed him, he multiplied.
Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion,
comfort all her mounds of ruins.
I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden,
her moonscape into the garden of God,
A place filled with exuberance and laughter,
thankful voices and melodic songs.
4–6 “Pay attention, my people.
Listen to me, nations.
Revelation flows from me.
My decisions light up the world.
My deliverance arrives on the run,
my salvation right on time.
I’ll bring justice to the peoples.
Even faraway islands will look to me
and take hope in my saving power.
Look up at the skies,
ponder the earth under your feet.
The skies will fade out like smoke,
the earth will wear out like work pants,
and the people will die off like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.
Today's Insights
What does Isaiah 51:1 mean? “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut.” God is challenging His exiled people to “look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth” (v. 2). The people were trying to gain righteousness by keeping the law. What they needed was the faith of their spiritual father Abraham. The apostle Paul wrote, “It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith” (Romans 4:13).
God’s Promise Beyond the Ruins
The heavens will vanish like smoke . . . . But my salvation will last forever. Isaiah 51:6
As Hurricane Laura raged through the Gulf of Mexico toward the US coastline of Louisiana, the warnings were dire. One sheriff, noting the 150-mile-per-hour winds, issued this jolting message: “Please evacuate. But if you choose to stay and we can't get to you, write your name, address, social security number, and next of kin and put it in a Ziploc bag in your pocket. Praying that it does not come to this.” Rescue crews knew that once Laura hit land, they could only watch the storm’s destructive path—helpless in its wake.
Whenever God’s people in the Old Testament faced natural or spiritual calamity, His words were far more certain and hopeful, promising His presence despite destruction. He said that He would “look with compassion on all her ruins; [and would] make her wastelands . . . like the garden of the Lord” (Isaiah 51:3). And more, God always assured His people of the rescue and healing that would certainly follow if they would only trust Him. Even though “the heavens [would] vanish like smoke,” God said, His “salvation [would] last forever” (v. 6). Whatever the damage, His ultimate goodness toward them wouldn’t be thwarted, ever.
God doesn’t safeguard us from hardship, but He does promise that His restorative healing extends far beyond the ruin.
Reflect & Pray
Where are you facing calamity and ruin? How do you hear God’s promise to be with you, to heal and rebuild after the ruins?
Dear God, the ruins are so devastating. I’m not sure I can believe that You have a promise big enough for this. But I choose to believe.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 02, 2025
The Unplanned Journey
By faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8
Have you ever set off on an unplanned journey, taking, as Christ instructed, no thought for your life, no thought for what you would eat or drink or wear (Matthew 6:25)?
“Where are you going, and what will you do?” If you begin to live for God, people will ask you this all the time. But if you are living in the way Christ wants, you won’t have a logical answer: there is none. You can’t know what you’re going to do; you can’t know what God is going to do. All you can know is that God knows. This is what it means to trust entirely in him.
Have you been begging God to tell you his plans? He never will. God doesn’t tell us what he’s going to do; he reveals to us who he is. It is through taking action, through stepping out in faith, that we receive this revelation. Ask yourself: Do I believe in a miracle-working God, and will I step out in surrender to him until I am not surprised one iota at anything he does? To step out in this way is to journey beyond your convictions and creeds and past experiences, until, as far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing at all between yourself and God.
Imagine, for a moment, that God really is who he says he is: the God of your days and your nights, of your future and your past; the God of all. What an impertinence worry is! Set aside your worries, and let your attitude be one of eager adventure.
Genesis 4–6; Matthew 2
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 02, 2025
God's Got No Grandchildren! - #9909
There's no greater gift our daughter and son-in-law could have given us than the little guy that was our first grandchild and the ones that have come since. From the night he was born, our hearts were all wrapped around that precious new life and they still are for all our grandchildren even though they're grown up. We would jump at the chance to babysit, and believe me; our rates were well below the market. But eventually, we took him home, and it was our turn to relax. That's the cycle of life. I had my chance to be the father of a child when my children were born. A grandchild is grand, but he's really not your child.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Got No Grandchildren!"
Now, I love being a grandfather. God doesn't. Well, He loves being a Father, but the Bible reveals the startling, unsettling truth that God has no grandchildren. Lots of children, but no grandchildren.
There really is no more critical, life-or-death issue in our lives than whether or not we belong to God. Not whether we believe in Him; whether we belong to Him; whether or not we have a personal relationship with Him. So much in this life and everything after this life depends on whether we are in God's family.
Our word for today from the Word of God can really help us determine if we are or we're not. It's found in John 1:12. God says, speaking of Jesus, "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." Now, notice we're not automatically born a child of God. We're all His creation, but we're not all His children. There's got to be a spiritual birth for that to take place. And apparently a lot of people who know a lot about Jesus, who have been around Jesus a lot, who are in a religion about Jesus can miss Jesus. These verses tell us that Jesus "came to that which was His own, but His own did not recognize Him."
God makes it clear that you don't belong to Him unless you have personally been born into a relationship with Him as His child. He has no second-generation people in His family. You won't go to heaven because your mom or dad belongs to Jesus, or because your son or daughter does or your husband or wife. You're not God's child just because you've been around God's children your whole life, even if you've been acting like one of God's children.
My daughter is my daughter by one simple fact: there was a day she was born into my family. Without that birth, there's no relationship. Without a personal spiritual rebirth, there is no relationship between you and God, no forgiveness, no heaven. And God tells us exactly how and when you can be spiritually born. His children are those who it says, "received Him (Jesus)...those who believed." That means the day you reach out to Jesus in total trust and say, "Lord, You are my only hope of having my sins forgiven, of belonging to God, because You are the only One who died to pay for my sins, to pay the awful death penalty; to take my hell to go to Your heaven." In short, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
You may be surrounded by Christianity, but missing Christ. Well, today could be your day to change that. It could be your spiritual birthday forever. If you want to begin this incredible relationship with Jesus Christ and know that you have, then let's have a definite beginning. Let Him know that. Tell Him that right now, "Jesus, knowing about You is not enough for me. I want to know You. Having a religion about You is not enough. I know that it will never be enough to get me into heaven or You would have never died on that cross. But, Jesus, I see now how personal that was and I embrace You, I grab You like a drowning person grabbing a lifeguard. You are my only hope, Jesus. And beginning today, I'm yours."
To help you know you belong to Him, would you please go to our website today? You'll find some things there that will really help you be sure. That website is ANewStory.com.
All these years beneath all the Christian words and Christian activities and maybe masks you've known in your heart that someone was missing, and it's been Jesus all along. But that's about to end if you'll give yourself to Him. Then when God opens His family album on Judgment Day - the one with no grandchildren - there you'll be: a child of God, born this very day.
