Max Lucado Daily: Spend Time with Him
C. S. Lewis wrote: “The moment you wake up each morning your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job of each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, letting that other, stronger, larger, quieter life come flowing in.”
Here’s how the psalmist began his day: “Every morning, I tell you what I need, and I wait for your answer” (Psalm 5:3).
Spend time waiting on God. And, at the end of the day, thank God for the good parts. Question him about the hard parts. Seek his mercy. Seek his strength. And as you close your eyes, take this assurance into your sleep: “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). If you fall asleep as you pray, don’t worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.
From Just Like Jesus
Job 4
ELIPHAZ SPEAKS OUT
Now You’re the One in Trouble
1–6 4 Then Eliphaz from Teman spoke up:
“Would you mind if I said something to you?
Under the circumstances it’s hard to keep quiet.
You yourself have done this plenty of times, spoken words
that clarify, encouraged those who were about to quit.
Your words have put stumbling people on their feet,
put fresh hope in people about to collapse.
But now you’re the one in trouble—you’re hurting!
You’ve been hit hard and you’re reeling from the blow.
But shouldn’t your devout life give you confidence now?
Shouldn’t your exemplary life give you hope?
7–11 “Think! Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap?
Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in the end?
It’s my observation that those who plow evil
and sow trouble reap evil and trouble.
One breath from God and they fall apart,
one blast of his anger and there’s nothing left of them.
The mighty lion, king of the beasts, roars mightily,
but when he’s toothless he’s useless—
No teeth, no prey—and the cubs
wander off to fend for themselves.
12–16 “A word came to me in secret—
a mere whisper of a word, but I heard it clearly.
It came in a scary dream one night,
after I had fallen into a deep, deep sleep.
Dread stared me in the face, and Terror.
I was scared to death—I shook from head to foot.
A spirit glided right in front of me—
the hair on my head stood on end.
I couldn’t tell what it was that appeared there—
a blur … and then I heard a muffled voice:
17–21 “ ‘How can mere mortals be more righteous than God?
How can humans be purer than their Creator?
Why, God doesn’t even trust his own servants,
doesn’t even cheer his angels,
So how much less these bodies composed of mud,
fragile as moths?
These bodies of ours are here today and gone tomorrow,
and no one even notices—gone without a trace.
When the tent stakes are ripped up, the tent collapses—
we die and are never the wiser for having lived.’ ”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, February 22, 2025
by Kenneth Petersen
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
John 13:31-36
A New Command
31–32 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is seen for who he is, and God seen for who he is in him. The moment God is seen in him, God’s glory will be on display. In glorifying him, he himself is glorified—glory all around!
33 “Children, I am with you for only a short time longer. You are going to look high and low for me. But just as I told the Jews, I’m telling you: ‘Where I go, you are not able to come.’
34–35 “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”
36 Simon Peter asked, “Master, just where are you going?”
Jesus answered, “You can’t now follow me where I’m going. You will follow later.”
Today's Insights
John’s words which close the section preceding John 13:31-36 are elegant and laden with meaning: “And it was night” (v. 30). Here John implies much more than the mere passage of daylight. Judas has been possessed by Satan himself (v. 27) and has left the company of the disciples (v. 30). At this pivotal point, Jesus says, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him” (v. 31). It may seem odd that Christ speaks triumphant words at such a dark time. Judas has left to betray Him, Peter will deny Him (v. 38), and the disciples (except John) will abandon Him (Matthew 26:56). Yet Jesus prayed, “I have brought you [His Father] glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). In Christ’s death and resurrection, the Father revealed the full scope of His love for us.
Legacy of Love in Jesus
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
In Sweden, there’s a concept known as döstädning. It literally means “death cleaning.” The idea is that as we grow older, we should stop accumulating “stuff” and begin to cut out the clutter we have amassed throughout our lives. “Swedish death cleaning” is actually a gift of love to children and friends, for it simplifies for them the task of wading through what we leave behind.
As believers in Jesus, at a certain age we think about our legacy—what survives us. This is often framed in terms of money, inheritance, or charitable giving—and there’s much to be said for that. But it might be helpful to look at Jesus in His final hours with His disciples: “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later” (John 13:36). In two verses (vv. 34-35), He uses the word love or loved four times—His legacy was love. He told them: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (v. 34).
It may be good to do some “Swedish death cleaning” in our lives, removing clutter to leave behind only the most important things. But it really isn’t about things or money. The most important legacy you can leave behind is your love for Jesus. When children and friends remember you as one who loved Jesus, that’s the best gift of all. It gives new meaning to the phrase “left behind.”
Reflect & Pray
How do your family and friends see your love for Jesus demonstrated? How might you share that love more openly?
Dear God, thank You for Your love and for the gift of Jesus in my life. Please help me to show Your love to those around me.
Discover the weight of the words “When he was gone…,” written by the disciple John.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 22, 2025
The Discipline of Spiritual Tenacity
Be still, and know that I am God. — Psalm 46:10
Tenacity is more than endurance; it’s endurance combined with the absolute certainty that what we expect to happen is going to happen. Tenacity isn’t simply hanging on. Hanging on can be a weakness, a sign that we’re too afraid to let go. Tenacity is the supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be defeated. As disciples, our greatest fear isn’t that we will be damned. It’s that Jesus Christ will be defeated, and that the things he stood for—love and justice and forgiveness and kindness—won’t win out in the end. God calls us to the discipline of spiritual tenacity. He asks us to do more than simply hang on. He asks us to work deliberately for him in the certainty that he’s not going to be defeated.
If we are disappointed and losing hope just now, it means that we are being purified. There is nothing noble the human mind has ever hoped for or dreamed of that will not be fulfilled. One of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. But God has promised that our patience will be rewarded. “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial” (Revelation 3:10).
Remain spiritually tenacious.
Numbers 4-6; Mark 4:1-20
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray.
So Send I You, 1325 L
