Max Lucado Daily: Only Through the Cross
Only Through the Cross
Posted: 25 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“We have freedom now, because Christ made us free.” Galatians 5:1
Some teach that we earn God’s favor by what we know (intellectualism). Others insist we are saved by what we do (moralism). Still others that salvation is determined by what we feel (emotionalism).
However you package it, Paul contests, . . . salvation comes only through the cross—no additions, no alterations.
1 Timothy 1
1-2I, Paul, am an apostle on special assignment for Christ, our living hope. Under God our Savior's command, I'm writing this to you, Timothy, my son in the faith. All the best from our God and Christ be yours!
Self-Appointed Experts on Life
3-4On my way to the province of Macedonia, I advised you to stay in Ephesus. Well, I haven't changed my mind. Stay right there on top of things so that the teaching stays on track. Apparently some people have been introducing fantasy stories and fanciful family trees that digress into silliness instead of pulling the people back into the center, deepening faith and obedience.
5-7The whole point of what we're urging is simply love—love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip. They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven't the remotest idea of what they're holding forth with such imposing eloquence.
8-11It's true that moral guidance and counsel need to be given, but the way you say it and to whom you say it are as important as what you say. It's obvious, isn't it, that the law code isn't primarily for people who live responsibly, but for the irresponsible, who defy all authority, riding roughshod over God, life, sex, truth, whatever! They are contemptuous of this great Message I've been put in charge of by this great God.
12-14I'm so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn't know what I was doing—didn't know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.
15-19Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I'm proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.
Deep honor and bright glory
to the King of All Time—
One God, Immortal, Invisible,
ever and always. Oh, yes!
I'm passing this work on to you, my son Timothy. The prophetic word that was directed to you prepared us for this. All those prayers are coming together now so you will do this well, fearless in your struggle, keeping a firm grip on your faith and on yourself. After all, this is a fight we're in.
19-20There are some, you know, who by relaxing their grip and thinking anything goes have made a thorough mess of their faith. Hymenaeus and Alexander are two of them. I let them wander off to Satan to be taught a lesson or two about not blaspheming.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Cor. 12:21-25
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"
22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,
25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
Learning From Erin
July 26, 2010 — by Dave Branon
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. —Psalm 145:8
Erin’s life was so different from that of most 8-year-olds. While other kids were running and playing and eating ice cream, Erin was lying in a bed being fed through a tube—able to see only the brightest lights and hear only the loudest sounds. Her life consisted of needles and nurses and hospital visits as she battled ongoing illnesses and profound disabilities.
Surrounded by a remarkable family who cared for her with compassion and filled her life with love, Erin died before reaching her ninth birthday.
What can be learned from a precious child like Erin—one who never spoke a word or colored a picture or sang a song? A friend of Erin’s family put it best: “We are all better for having had Erin in our lives. She taught us compassion, unconditional love, and appreciation for the little things.”
Children such as Erin also remind us that this world is not reserved for the perfect, the wealthy, or the athletic. Each person, no matter their physical, mental, or emotional condition, is created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27) and is of equal value and significance. Our Lord has compassion for the weak, the broken, and all He has made (Ps. 145:8-9), and we should mirror that concern (Eph. 5:1-2). Is there an “Erin” in your life you can learn from?
People in whom the world sees no value,
But only as burdens to bear,
Teach us great lessons of God’s sovereign power—
He loves them as treasures so rare. —Carbaugh
Never underestimate the value of one soul.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 26th , 2010
The Way to Purity
Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart . . . . For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man . . . —Matthew 15:18-20
Initially we trust in our ignorance, calling it innocence, and next we trust our innocence, calling it purity. Then when we hear these strong statements from our Lord, we shrink back, saying, “But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart.” We resent what He reveals. Either Jesus Christ is the supreme authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. Am I prepared to trust the penetration of His Word into my heart, or would I prefer to trust my own “innocent ignorance”? If I will take an honest look at myself, becoming fully aware of my so-called innocence and putting it to the test, I am very likely to have a rude awakening that what Jesus Christ said is true, and I will be appalled at the possibilities of the evil and the wrong within me. But as long as I remain under the false security of my own “innocence,” I am living in a fool’s paradise. If I have never been an openly rude and abusive person, the only reason is my own cowardice coupled with the sense of protection I receive from living a civilized life. But when I am open and completely exposed before God, I find that Jesus Christ is right in His diagnosis of me.
The only thing that truly provides protection is the redemption of Jesus Christ. If I will simply hand myself over to Him, I will never have to experience the terrible possibilities that lie within my heart. Purity is something far too deep for me to arrive at naturally. But when the Holy Spirit comes into me, He brings into the center of my personal life the very Spirit that was exhibited in the life of Jesus Christ, namely, the Holy Spirit, which is absolute unblemished purity.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Faith Launching - #6141
Monday, July 26, 2010
The Blob. Yep! That's what they call this huge inflated pillow-like thing they have at a camp we use in our ministry. The Blob is in the water at the camp beach, sitting there, daring someone to jump off the platform above onto its bouncy launch pad. It's - well, shall we say - a leap of faith. One person jumps onto the Blob and then they clumsily scoot out to the end that extends into the lake. Then a second person makes the jump. When they hit the Blob, the force of their landing literally launches the person on the end into the air and ultimately into the lake with a loud splash. For the launch to work, there can't be more than 30 pounds difference in the weights of the two Blobbers. Well, since our son is a pretty big hunk of a guy, he went most of the week without getting Blob-launched...until the campers convinced Frank, our other generous-sized leader, to try it with our son. Every person in the camp was at the beach at two o'clock to see this one, and we weren't disappointed. Our son made the jump and crawled to the end of the Blob. Then his counterweight friend made the jump. The camp erupted in cheers and gales of laughter as the force of Frank's landing sent our son into the air like a Cape Canaveral rocket!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Faith Launching."
You see, Frank took a leap of faith and it launched someone else. You know, that shouldn't be unusual with brothers and sisters in Christ. If you belong to Jesus, there are people around you who could use some faith right now for what they're facing - but they may need the "jumper cable" of your faith to inspire them to trust God in a big way.
In our word for today from the Word of God, Romans 1:11-12, Paul told the believers at Rome, "I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong - that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." There it is - contagious faith, stirring up greater faith in the person they infect.
There's a great example of that in the Book of Joshua as the Jews are standing on the edge of flooded Jordan River, facing the giants and walled cities of Canaan on the other side. God launched General Joshua's faith when He says, "Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land" (Joshua 1:6). Joshua then launches the faith of his officers by telling them to get the people ready because they are going to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land God is giving them. Before long, the people are telling Joshua to "...be strong and courageous!" (Joshua 1:18). Mutually encouraging each other to believe God for something only God can do.
I wonder what your effect is on the people in your personal world. Do you inspire them to trust God for big things, or do you spread anxiety, apathy, pessimism, or negative thinking? Leave behind your trail of faith! Use critical moments to show your family how to totally trust God rather than worry. Pray boldly with people who share a need with you. Verbalize what you're trusting God for as a declaration of your faith. Challenge people you serve with to get out of the box of doing what's always been done, taking no risks, and seeing no miracles.
Faith isn't just taught - it's caught. And you should be modeling and encouraging bold trust in an all-powerful God. This isn't about your great faith. It's about your great God - a God who deserves nothing less than faith for "great and mighty things we don't know" (Jeremiah 33:3). As John Newton said, "Thou art coming to a King, great petitions with thee bring; for His grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much." When people are around you and your faith, they should be launched higher than they've ever gone before!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
1 Peter 5, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: He Sings Over You
He Sings Over You
Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“The Lord God is like a sun and shield; the Lord gives us kindness and honor.” Psalm 84:11
Rejections are like speed bumps on the road. They come with the journey . . . You can’t keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you. How? By letting God’s acceptance compensate for their rejection.
When others reject you, let God accept you. He is not frowning. He is not mad. He sings over you. Take a long drink from His limitless love.
1 Peter 5
He'll Promote You at the Right Time
1-3 I have a special concern for you church leaders. I know what it's like to be a leader, in on Christ's sufferings as well as the coming glory. Here's my concern: that you care for God's flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way.
4-5When God, who is the best shepherd of all, comes out in the open with his rule, he'll see that you've done it right and commend you lavishly. And you who are younger must follow your leaders. But all of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for—
God has had it with the proud,
But takes delight in just plain people.
6-7So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand is on you; he'll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
He Gets the Last Word
8-11Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.
12I'm sending this brief letter to you by Silas, a most dependable brother. I have the highest regard for him.
I've written as urgently and accurately as I know how. This is God's generous truth; embrace it with both arms!
13-14The church in exile here with me—but not for a moment forgotten by God—wants to be remembered to you. Mark, who is like a son to me, says hello. Give holy embraces all around! Peace to you—to all who walk in Christ's ways.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 4:1-13
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here.
10 For it is written:
"'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Fix Your Eyes
July 25, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. —Hebrews 12:1-2
Over and over again, my driver’s education instructor said these two words: “Drive ahead.” This was his way of telling me to focus on the horizon, not just on my immediate surroundings. Drivers who continually look to the right or to the left may well go into the ditch.
Satan is good at causing “roadside distractions” that tempt us to look at him rather than at Jesus. If he can get our attention, he may be able to get us off track and delay our spiritual progress. He even tried this with Jesus Himself!
After Jesus was baptized, Satan tried to deter Him by suggesting “better” ways to accomplish His work. Satan told Jesus that He could prove He was the Son of God by throwing Himself from the temple (Luke 4:9-11). But Jesus knew that proving He was God’s Son would come by submitting Himself to the cross, not by flinging Himself from a high building. He responded, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (v.12). Jesus had His eyes on our redemption, and He knew He couldn’t accomplish it by taking a detour around the cross.
The way to stay out of spiritual ditches is to fix our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) and refuse to even glance at Satan’s distractions.
The only way to overcome
Temptations that we face,
Is to be focused on the Lord,
Who strengthens by His grace. —Sper
Satan ought not be in our line of vision, but behind us. —Leonard Sweet
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 25th , 2010
Am I Blessed Like This?
Blessed are . . . —Matthew 5:3-11
When we first read the statements of Jesus, they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling, and they sink unnoticed into our subconscious minds. For instance, the Beatitudes initially seem to be merely soothing and beautiful precepts for overly spiritual and seemingly useless people, but of very little practical use in the rigid, fast-paced workdays of the world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the “dynamite” of the Holy Spirit. And they “explode” when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. When the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance one of the Beatitudes, we say, “What a startling statement that is!” Then we must decide whether or not we will accept the tremendous spiritual upheaval that will be produced in our circumstances if we obey His words. That is the way the Spirit of God works. We do not need to be born again to apply the Sermon on the Mount literally. The literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is as easy as child’s play. But the interpretation by the Spirit of God as He applies our Lord’s statements to our circumstances is the strict and difficult work of a saint.
The teachings of Jesus are all out of proportion when compared to our natural way of looking at things, and they come to us initially with astonishing discomfort. We gradually have to conform our walk and conversation to the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances. The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations— it is a picture of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His unhindered way with us.
He Sings Over You
Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“The Lord God is like a sun and shield; the Lord gives us kindness and honor.” Psalm 84:11
Rejections are like speed bumps on the road. They come with the journey . . . You can’t keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you. How? By letting God’s acceptance compensate for their rejection.
When others reject you, let God accept you. He is not frowning. He is not mad. He sings over you. Take a long drink from His limitless love.
1 Peter 5
He'll Promote You at the Right Time
1-3 I have a special concern for you church leaders. I know what it's like to be a leader, in on Christ's sufferings as well as the coming glory. Here's my concern: that you care for God's flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way.
4-5When God, who is the best shepherd of all, comes out in the open with his rule, he'll see that you've done it right and commend you lavishly. And you who are younger must follow your leaders. But all of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for—
God has had it with the proud,
But takes delight in just plain people.
6-7So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand is on you; he'll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
He Gets the Last Word
8-11Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.
12I'm sending this brief letter to you by Silas, a most dependable brother. I have the highest regard for him.
I've written as urgently and accurately as I know how. This is God's generous truth; embrace it with both arms!
13-14The church in exile here with me—but not for a moment forgotten by God—wants to be remembered to you. Mark, who is like a son to me, says hello. Give holy embraces all around! Peace to you—to all who walk in Christ's ways.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 4:1-13
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here.
10 For it is written:
"'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Fix Your Eyes
July 25, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. —Hebrews 12:1-2
Over and over again, my driver’s education instructor said these two words: “Drive ahead.” This was his way of telling me to focus on the horizon, not just on my immediate surroundings. Drivers who continually look to the right or to the left may well go into the ditch.
Satan is good at causing “roadside distractions” that tempt us to look at him rather than at Jesus. If he can get our attention, he may be able to get us off track and delay our spiritual progress. He even tried this with Jesus Himself!
After Jesus was baptized, Satan tried to deter Him by suggesting “better” ways to accomplish His work. Satan told Jesus that He could prove He was the Son of God by throwing Himself from the temple (Luke 4:9-11). But Jesus knew that proving He was God’s Son would come by submitting Himself to the cross, not by flinging Himself from a high building. He responded, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (v.12). Jesus had His eyes on our redemption, and He knew He couldn’t accomplish it by taking a detour around the cross.
The way to stay out of spiritual ditches is to fix our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) and refuse to even glance at Satan’s distractions.
The only way to overcome
Temptations that we face,
Is to be focused on the Lord,
Who strengthens by His grace. —Sper
Satan ought not be in our line of vision, but behind us. —Leonard Sweet
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 25th , 2010
Am I Blessed Like This?
Blessed are . . . —Matthew 5:3-11
When we first read the statements of Jesus, they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling, and they sink unnoticed into our subconscious minds. For instance, the Beatitudes initially seem to be merely soothing and beautiful precepts for overly spiritual and seemingly useless people, but of very little practical use in the rigid, fast-paced workdays of the world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the “dynamite” of the Holy Spirit. And they “explode” when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. When the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance one of the Beatitudes, we say, “What a startling statement that is!” Then we must decide whether or not we will accept the tremendous spiritual upheaval that will be produced in our circumstances if we obey His words. That is the way the Spirit of God works. We do not need to be born again to apply the Sermon on the Mount literally. The literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is as easy as child’s play. But the interpretation by the Spirit of God as He applies our Lord’s statements to our circumstances is the strict and difficult work of a saint.
The teachings of Jesus are all out of proportion when compared to our natural way of looking at things, and they come to us initially with astonishing discomfort. We gradually have to conform our walk and conversation to the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances. The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations— it is a picture of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His unhindered way with us.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
1 Peter 4, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Second Birth
Second Birth
Posted: 23 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT
“God is being patient with you . . . He wants all people to change their hearts and lives.” 2 Peter 3:9
In many ways your new birth is like your first: In your new birth God provides what you need; someone else feels the pain, and someone else does the work. And just as parents are patient with their newborn, so God is patient with you. But there is one difference. The first time you had no choice about being born; this time you do. The power is God’s. The effort is God’s. The pain is God’s. But the choice is yours.
1 Peter 4
Learn to Think Like Him
1-2Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.
3-5You've already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it's time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don't understand why you don't join in with the old gang anymore. But you don't have to give an account to them. They're the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself.
6Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus.
7-11Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
Glory Just Around the Corner
12-13Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.
14-16If you're abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It's the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they're on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that's a different matter. But if it's because you're a Christian, don't give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!
17-19It's judgment time for God's own family. We're first in line. If it starts with us, think what it's going to be like for those who refuse God's Message!
If good people barely make it,
What's in store for the bad?
So if you find life difficult because you're doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 25:1-12
1 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem,
2 where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.
3 They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
4 Festus answered, "Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon.
5 Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong."
6 After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him.
7 When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.
8 Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar."
9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?"
10 Paul answered: "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.
11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!"
12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!"
Sphere Of Influence
July 24, 2010 — by Dennis Fisher
He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before . . . kings. —Acts 9:15
The book The Preacher and the Presidents chronicles the ministry of evangelist Billy Graham. Spanning presidents from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush, Graham often had an open door to the White House. Yet despite his unusual sphere of influence, Graham repeatedly credited the grace of God working through him for his influence—not any personal talent he might possess.
The apostle Paul was another believer who was called to witness to people in high authority. Christ said of Paul, “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
In Acts, we read that Paul’s sphere of influence included rulers such as Felix, Festus, Herod Agrippa, and perhaps Caesar himself (Acts 24–26). But as Billy Graham would do centuries later, Paul pointed to the grace of God working through him: “Not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).
You may not be called to proclaim the gospel to heads of state, but God has placed people in your life with whom He wants you to share His message of hope. Why not pray for opportunities for God’s grace to flow through you as a witness to someone in your sphere of influence?
Lord, help me make my witness clear,
And labor faithfully,
So friends and neighbors turn to Christ
Through what they hear from me. —Anon.
The best place to witness is where God has placed you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 24th , 2010
His Nature and Our Motives
. . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven —Matthew 5:20
The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, “If you are My disciple, you must be right not only in your actions, but also in your motives, your aspirations, and in the deep recesses of the thoughts of your mind.” Your motives must be so pure that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke. Who can stand in the eternal light of God and have nothing for Him to rebuke? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that through His redemption He can place within anyone His own nature and make that person as pure and as simple as a child. The purity that God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through His redemption.
No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations— He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature— He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.
Second Birth
Posted: 23 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT
“God is being patient with you . . . He wants all people to change their hearts and lives.” 2 Peter 3:9
In many ways your new birth is like your first: In your new birth God provides what you need; someone else feels the pain, and someone else does the work. And just as parents are patient with their newborn, so God is patient with you. But there is one difference. The first time you had no choice about being born; this time you do. The power is God’s. The effort is God’s. The pain is God’s. But the choice is yours.
1 Peter 4
Learn to Think Like Him
1-2Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.
3-5You've already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it's time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don't understand why you don't join in with the old gang anymore. But you don't have to give an account to them. They're the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself.
6Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus.
7-11Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
Glory Just Around the Corner
12-13Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.
14-16If you're abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It's the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they're on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that's a different matter. But if it's because you're a Christian, don't give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!
17-19It's judgment time for God's own family. We're first in line. If it starts with us, think what it's going to be like for those who refuse God's Message!
If good people barely make it,
What's in store for the bad?
So if you find life difficult because you're doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 25:1-12
1 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem,
2 where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.
3 They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
4 Festus answered, "Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon.
5 Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong."
6 After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him.
7 When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.
8 Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar."
9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?"
10 Paul answered: "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.
11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!"
12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!"
Sphere Of Influence
July 24, 2010 — by Dennis Fisher
He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before . . . kings. —Acts 9:15
The book The Preacher and the Presidents chronicles the ministry of evangelist Billy Graham. Spanning presidents from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush, Graham often had an open door to the White House. Yet despite his unusual sphere of influence, Graham repeatedly credited the grace of God working through him for his influence—not any personal talent he might possess.
The apostle Paul was another believer who was called to witness to people in high authority. Christ said of Paul, “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
In Acts, we read that Paul’s sphere of influence included rulers such as Felix, Festus, Herod Agrippa, and perhaps Caesar himself (Acts 24–26). But as Billy Graham would do centuries later, Paul pointed to the grace of God working through him: “Not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).
You may not be called to proclaim the gospel to heads of state, but God has placed people in your life with whom He wants you to share His message of hope. Why not pray for opportunities for God’s grace to flow through you as a witness to someone in your sphere of influence?
Lord, help me make my witness clear,
And labor faithfully,
So friends and neighbors turn to Christ
Through what they hear from me. —Anon.
The best place to witness is where God has placed you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 24th , 2010
His Nature and Our Motives
. . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven —Matthew 5:20
The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, “If you are My disciple, you must be right not only in your actions, but also in your motives, your aspirations, and in the deep recesses of the thoughts of your mind.” Your motives must be so pure that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke. Who can stand in the eternal light of God and have nothing for Him to rebuke? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that through His redemption He can place within anyone His own nature and make that person as pure and as simple as a child. The purity that God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through His redemption.
No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations— He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature— He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.
Friday, July 23, 2010
1 Peter 1, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Love for the Least
Love for the Least
Posted: 22 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Anything you did even for the least of my people here, you did also for me.” Matthew 25:40
What is the sign of the saved? Their scholarship? Their willingness to go to foreign lands? Their ability to amass an audience and preach? Their skillful pens and hope-filled volumes? . . . No.
The sign of the saved is their love for the least . . .
No fanfare. No hoopla. No media coverage. Just good people doing good things. For when we do good things to others we do good things to God.
1 Peter 1
1-2I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!
A New Life
3-5What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole.
6-7I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
8-9You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation.
10-12The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah's Spirit let them in on some of it—that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves—through the Holy Spirit—the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!
A Future in God
13-16So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy; you be holy."
17You call out to God for help and he helps—he's a good Father that way. But don't forget, he's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living.
18-21Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It's because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
22-25Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said,
The old life is a grass life,
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers droop,
God's Word goes on and on forever.
This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-12
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
3 They all ate the same spiritual food
4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry."
8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes.
10 And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!
Confidence In What?
July 23, 2010 — by Bill Crowder
Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12
While walking through a home-improvement store, I saw a man wearing a bright red T-shirt bearing this melancholy message: “Confidence: The feeling you have just before you understand the situation.”
I laughed at this humorous concept, but I also realized that the shirt carried a sane and sound warning. It’s a reminder to all of us who try to get things done through confidence in our own ability or credentials but without consciously trusting in the strength of God. If we think we can accomplish life’s tasks in our own strength, that false confidence will inevitably become our undoing—and we’ll collapse under the weight of our own failings.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this by recalling ancient Israel’s penchant for self-confidence and self-sufficiency. He described everything the Israelites thought they had going for them; then he told how they had turned those benefits into a license to sin and an almost arrogant confidence that would prove to be their undoing.
Paul said their self-confidence should warn us. His conclusion? “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Psalm 118:8 shows us the best way: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man,” or in ourselves. Where is your confidence?
Let all who think that they can stand
Take heed lest they should fall;
These words remind us of the truth
That God is Lord of all. —Branon
Confidence in Christ is the right kind of confidence.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 23rd , 2010
Sanctification (2)
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us . . . sanctification . . . —1 Corinthians 1:30
The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He “became for [me] . . . sanctification . . . .” Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life.
The most wonderful secret of living a holy life does not lie in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfect qualities of Jesus exhibit themselves in my human flesh. Sanctification is “Christ in you . . .” ( Colossians 1:27 ). It is His wonderful life that is imparted to me in sanctification— imparted by faith as a sovereign gift of God’s grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real in me as it is in His Word?
Sanctification means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ to me. It is the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is exhibited in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is something altogether different. The perfection of everything is in Jesus Christ, and the mystery of sanctification is that all the perfect qualities of Jesus are at my disposal. Consequently, I slowly but surely begin to live a life of inexpressible order, soundness, and holiness— “. . . kept by the power of God . . .” ( 1 Peter 1:5 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Waves You're Making - #6140
Friday, July 23, 2010
I had the joy of participating in the baptism of some young people not long ago - in the waters of a beautiful lake. It was a sacred moment for all of us - in spite of the speedboat. You see, at one point, it went blazing across the lake behind us. It was there and gone in a flash. But its wake wasn't. For some time after the boat had disappeared, the waves it had created kept rolling in on us. And, for a time, it actually interrupted the proceedings. Mr. BoatGuy probably never thought about the wake he was leaving - long after he left. He was just passing through.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Waves You're Making."
If you've ever spent much time by a lake, it's something you've experienced for yourself. Long after the boat has passed, the waves it created are still making an impact. Our lives are like that. Long after we've passed on, the waves our choices have made are still impacting many other lives. In our "now is all that matters" culture, it's easy to forget how much our choices matter and how long their effects last. It's about so much more than this moment.
God gives us a powerful values-clarifier in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 102:18 . He says, "Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord." Man, that hits me hard! God focuses our eyes on the big picture reason for doing the right thing, because what you do now will affect lives that have not even been born yet - generations you will never see! Think about it. You and I are continuing to benefit from the choices previous generations have made, and to pay for choices previous generations have made. They've passed by, but not the waves they created. They are still rocking our lives.
The psalm goes one to point out the long-lasting effects of making God's choices your choices: "The children of Your servants will live in Your presence; their descendants will be established before You." Again, multiple generations whose destiny will be shaped by what we do now. Pretty sobering, isn't it?
So that compromise you're making or about to make - is it worth it - in light of its long-range consequences? Is that taste of sin really worth the road it may take you down and the legacy that may leave? Is that fling really worth what it may do to you, to people you love, to generations you may never see? How about that divorce? It will leave a mark for a long, long time. Maybe you're tempted to return to the old you, but stop and think about generations that could feel the impact of that choice. Who you're dating, who you sleep with, who you marry, even who your friends are - don't think those are just decisions that affect only you or only a few years of your life. Again, we are all still feeling the affects of those same choices made by people who went before us - when we were "the people not created" yet.
There's so much more at stake in the choices we make and the way we live than we could ever imagine. Things are being passed from us to others, especially our children, who will in turn pass it on to those they influence and who will in turn just keep it alive across the generations.
Before you go speeding into what you may be considering, would you think about it and consider the waves that your life is making? Make the choices that will cause those who follow you to bless your memory and the God that you helped them find across those years.
Love for the Least
Posted: 22 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Anything you did even for the least of my people here, you did also for me.” Matthew 25:40
What is the sign of the saved? Their scholarship? Their willingness to go to foreign lands? Their ability to amass an audience and preach? Their skillful pens and hope-filled volumes? . . . No.
The sign of the saved is their love for the least . . .
No fanfare. No hoopla. No media coverage. Just good people doing good things. For when we do good things to others we do good things to God.
1 Peter 1
1-2I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!
A New Life
3-5What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole.
6-7I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
8-9You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation.
10-12The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah's Spirit let them in on some of it—that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves—through the Holy Spirit—the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!
A Future in God
13-16So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy; you be holy."
17You call out to God for help and he helps—he's a good Father that way. But don't forget, he's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living.
18-21Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It's because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
22-25Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said,
The old life is a grass life,
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers droop,
God's Word goes on and on forever.
This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-12
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
3 They all ate the same spiritual food
4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry."
8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes.
10 And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!
Confidence In What?
July 23, 2010 — by Bill Crowder
Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12
While walking through a home-improvement store, I saw a man wearing a bright red T-shirt bearing this melancholy message: “Confidence: The feeling you have just before you understand the situation.”
I laughed at this humorous concept, but I also realized that the shirt carried a sane and sound warning. It’s a reminder to all of us who try to get things done through confidence in our own ability or credentials but without consciously trusting in the strength of God. If we think we can accomplish life’s tasks in our own strength, that false confidence will inevitably become our undoing—and we’ll collapse under the weight of our own failings.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this by recalling ancient Israel’s penchant for self-confidence and self-sufficiency. He described everything the Israelites thought they had going for them; then he told how they had turned those benefits into a license to sin and an almost arrogant confidence that would prove to be their undoing.
Paul said their self-confidence should warn us. His conclusion? “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Psalm 118:8 shows us the best way: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man,” or in ourselves. Where is your confidence?
Let all who think that they can stand
Take heed lest they should fall;
These words remind us of the truth
That God is Lord of all. —Branon
Confidence in Christ is the right kind of confidence.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 23rd , 2010
Sanctification (2)
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us . . . sanctification . . . —1 Corinthians 1:30
The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He “became for [me] . . . sanctification . . . .” Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life.
The most wonderful secret of living a holy life does not lie in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfect qualities of Jesus exhibit themselves in my human flesh. Sanctification is “Christ in you . . .” ( Colossians 1:27 ). It is His wonderful life that is imparted to me in sanctification— imparted by faith as a sovereign gift of God’s grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real in me as it is in His Word?
Sanctification means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ to me. It is the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is exhibited in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is something altogether different. The perfection of everything is in Jesus Christ, and the mystery of sanctification is that all the perfect qualities of Jesus are at my disposal. Consequently, I slowly but surely begin to live a life of inexpressible order, soundness, and holiness— “. . . kept by the power of God . . .” ( 1 Peter 1:5 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Waves You're Making - #6140
Friday, July 23, 2010
I had the joy of participating in the baptism of some young people not long ago - in the waters of a beautiful lake. It was a sacred moment for all of us - in spite of the speedboat. You see, at one point, it went blazing across the lake behind us. It was there and gone in a flash. But its wake wasn't. For some time after the boat had disappeared, the waves it had created kept rolling in on us. And, for a time, it actually interrupted the proceedings. Mr. BoatGuy probably never thought about the wake he was leaving - long after he left. He was just passing through.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Waves You're Making."
If you've ever spent much time by a lake, it's something you've experienced for yourself. Long after the boat has passed, the waves it created are still making an impact. Our lives are like that. Long after we've passed on, the waves our choices have made are still impacting many other lives. In our "now is all that matters" culture, it's easy to forget how much our choices matter and how long their effects last. It's about so much more than this moment.
God gives us a powerful values-clarifier in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 102:18 . He says, "Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord." Man, that hits me hard! God focuses our eyes on the big picture reason for doing the right thing, because what you do now will affect lives that have not even been born yet - generations you will never see! Think about it. You and I are continuing to benefit from the choices previous generations have made, and to pay for choices previous generations have made. They've passed by, but not the waves they created. They are still rocking our lives.
The psalm goes one to point out the long-lasting effects of making God's choices your choices: "The children of Your servants will live in Your presence; their descendants will be established before You." Again, multiple generations whose destiny will be shaped by what we do now. Pretty sobering, isn't it?
So that compromise you're making or about to make - is it worth it - in light of its long-range consequences? Is that taste of sin really worth the road it may take you down and the legacy that may leave? Is that fling really worth what it may do to you, to people you love, to generations you may never see? How about that divorce? It will leave a mark for a long, long time. Maybe you're tempted to return to the old you, but stop and think about generations that could feel the impact of that choice. Who you're dating, who you sleep with, who you marry, even who your friends are - don't think those are just decisions that affect only you or only a few years of your life. Again, we are all still feeling the affects of those same choices made by people who went before us - when we were "the people not created" yet.
There's so much more at stake in the choices we make and the way we live than we could ever imagine. Things are being passed from us to others, especially our children, who will in turn pass it on to those they influence and who will in turn just keep it alive across the generations.
Before you go speeding into what you may be considering, would you think about it and consider the waves that your life is making? Make the choices that will cause those who follow you to bless your memory and the God that you helped them find across those years.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Philippians 4, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Our Next Door Savior
Our Next Door Savior
Posted: 21 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1 NASB
Even in heaven, Christ remains our next door Savior . . . The King of the universe commands comets with a human tongue and directs celestial traffic with a human hand. Still human. Still divine. Living forever through his two natures . . .
The hands that blessed the bread of the boy now bless the prayers of the millions . . . You know what that means? The greatest force in the cosmos understands and intercedes for you.
Philippians 4
1 My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don't waver. Stay on track, steady in God.
Pray About Everything
2I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn't want his children holding grudges.
3And, oh, yes, Syzygus, since you're right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the Message hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the Book of Life.
4-5Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Content Whatever the Circumstances
10-14I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.
15-17You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I'll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. Not that I'm looking for handouts, but I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity.
18-20And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.
21-22Give our regards to every follower of Jesus you meet. Our friends here say hello. All the Christians here, especially the believers who work in the palace of Caesar, want to be remembered to you.
23Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Numbers 8:23-26
23 The Lord said to Moses,
24 "This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting,
25 but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer.
26 They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites."
Don’t Just Retire
July 22, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
They may minister with their brethren . . . to attend to needs. —Numbers 8:26
The first people to climb Mt. Everest, the world’s highest mountain, were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Hillary was just 33 years old. His feat afforded him fame, wealth, and the realization that he had already lived a remarkable life.
So, what did Hillary do for the next 55 years? Did he retire and rest on his laurels? Absolutely not.
Although Hillary had no higher mountains to climb, that didn’t stop him. He achieved other notable goals, including a concerted effort to improve the welfare of the Nepalese people living near Mt. Everest—a task he carried on until his death in 2008.
Did you know that God told the Levites to retire from their regular duties at age 50? (Num. 8:24-25). But He did not want them to stop helping others. He said that they should “minister with their brethren . . . to attend to needs” (v.26). We cannot take this incident as a complete teaching on retirement, but we can see a godly implication that continuing to serve others after our working days are over is a good idea.
Many people find that when they retire they have nothing meaningful to do with their time. But as the Levites and Sir Edmund Hillary did, we can refocus when we retire—giving of our time to help others.
The Lord will give you help and strength
For work He bids you do;
Serve others from a heart of love
Is what He asks of you. —Fasick
Life takes on new meaning when we invest ourselves in others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 22nd , 2010
Sanctification (1)
This is the will of God, your sanctification. . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3
The Death Side. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid. There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification is realized— something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ. When the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle starts immediately. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . his own life . . . he cannot be My disciple” ( Luke 14:26 ).
In the process of sanctification, the Spirit of God will strip me down until there is nothing left but myself, and that is the place of death. Am I willing to be myself and nothing more? Am I willing to have no friends, no father, no brother, and no self-interest— simply to be ready for death? That is the condition required for sanctification. No wonder Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword” ( Matthew 10:34 ). This is where the battle comes, and where so many of us falter. We refuse to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ on this point. We say, “But this is so strict. Surely He does not require that of me.” Our Lord is strict, and He does require that of us.
Am I willing to reduce myself down to simply “me”? Am I determined enough to strip myself of all that my friends think of me, and all that I think of myself? Am I willing and determined to hand over my simple naked self to God? Once I am, He will immediately sanctify me completely, and my life will be free from being determined and persistent toward anything except God (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ).
When I pray, “Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,” He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus puts in me— it is Himself in me (see 1 Corinthians 1:30 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Realizing You Were Made For More - #6139
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Our grandson's been on a very limited diet - just mother's milk or baby formula for his first six months. But something's been happening in the last couple of weeks. He has suddenly become fascinated with what the rest of us are eating. Fascinated, you know, as in staring at the food on our plate, the fork going down to get that food, the fork coming up to put that food in our mouth, and our mouth as it's chewing that food. Then repeat the exercise as the fork goes down for another bite. You can tell by the longing look in his eyes, he's not content with that milk or formula anymore. He wants some of that good stuff. If he could talk, I think he might be saying, "Hey! I've been made for more than what I've been getting!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Realizing You Were Made For More."
Our grandson's growing dissatisfaction with his liquid diet is actually setting the stage for moving to something much better. In fact, many all grown-up people have some of those same feelings, "I've been made for more than what I've experienced so far." The good news is that, in many lives, restlessness like that has immediately preceded the greatest life upgrade those people have ever experienced.
Many of us know the feeling of a life that is full but not fulfilling. For all the things we've done to get some love, there's never been enough. We're still lonely. For everything we've tried to give more meaning to our life, nothing has ever really satisfied our soul. We're still wondering what the point of it all is. For all we've thought would give us some lasting peace inside, the unrest in our soul just won't go away. Even if you seem to have everything going your way, your heart may still be saying, "I'm made for more than this."
And your heart's right. It's just that the "something more" has always been elusive. It may be within your reach today, if you reach the right direction. Who could have more love, more meaning, more peace to give than the God who gave us our life in the first place? Here's what He says in Isaiah 55, beginning with verse 1; it's our word for today from the Word of God. "Come, all you who are thirsty (or "all you who are restless for more."), come to the waters...come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare...hear Me, that your soul may live."
God says, "Don't waste any more time or energy on things that can never satisfy your soul. I've got what you're looking for." And where can you find it? It's not in a church. It's not in a religion. It's in a person. Here's what the Bible says about God's Son, Jesus: "All things were created by Him and for Him (that includes you) ... in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 1:16, 2:9). It goes on to say, "You are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10, KJV). Complete, fulfilled, at peace, because you've found the One you were made by and made for.
Sadly, we haven't lived our life for the One we were made for. We've made it all about me instead of all about Him. So we're away from the One who has the "something more" that we were made for. But in the greatest act of love in human history, Jesus paid the price to give us a chance at knowing God. This same book of the Bible says that He reconciled us to God "by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20). We can have life now and life forever because He gave up His life for us. But, thank God, He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead; so He's alive right now and inviting you to turn to Him for what only He can give.
This life-changing relationship with Jesus begins the moment you say, "Lord, I give up running my life. It's Yours to run from now on. I'm putting myself completely in the hands of Jesus, the Man who died and rose again for me." It's exciting to think that this day could be the day that your long search finally ends. A lot of people have found help getting started with Jesus at our website. I want to invite you to check it out. It's simply yoursforlife.net. Or you can call to get this information in my "Yours For Life" booklet. It's 877-741-1200 that you can call and get it.
Jesus is the "something more" you were made for, and He's within your reach today. I am praying that you won't miss Him.
Our Next Door Savior
Posted: 21 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1 NASB
Even in heaven, Christ remains our next door Savior . . . The King of the universe commands comets with a human tongue and directs celestial traffic with a human hand. Still human. Still divine. Living forever through his two natures . . .
The hands that blessed the bread of the boy now bless the prayers of the millions . . . You know what that means? The greatest force in the cosmos understands and intercedes for you.
Philippians 4
1 My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don't waver. Stay on track, steady in God.
Pray About Everything
2I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn't want his children holding grudges.
3And, oh, yes, Syzygus, since you're right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the Message hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the Book of Life.
4-5Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Content Whatever the Circumstances
10-14I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.
15-17You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I'll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. Not that I'm looking for handouts, but I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity.
18-20And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.
21-22Give our regards to every follower of Jesus you meet. Our friends here say hello. All the Christians here, especially the believers who work in the palace of Caesar, want to be remembered to you.
23Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Numbers 8:23-26
23 The Lord said to Moses,
24 "This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting,
25 but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer.
26 They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites."
Don’t Just Retire
July 22, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
They may minister with their brethren . . . to attend to needs. —Numbers 8:26
The first people to climb Mt. Everest, the world’s highest mountain, were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Hillary was just 33 years old. His feat afforded him fame, wealth, and the realization that he had already lived a remarkable life.
So, what did Hillary do for the next 55 years? Did he retire and rest on his laurels? Absolutely not.
Although Hillary had no higher mountains to climb, that didn’t stop him. He achieved other notable goals, including a concerted effort to improve the welfare of the Nepalese people living near Mt. Everest—a task he carried on until his death in 2008.
Did you know that God told the Levites to retire from their regular duties at age 50? (Num. 8:24-25). But He did not want them to stop helping others. He said that they should “minister with their brethren . . . to attend to needs” (v.26). We cannot take this incident as a complete teaching on retirement, but we can see a godly implication that continuing to serve others after our working days are over is a good idea.
Many people find that when they retire they have nothing meaningful to do with their time. But as the Levites and Sir Edmund Hillary did, we can refocus when we retire—giving of our time to help others.
The Lord will give you help and strength
For work He bids you do;
Serve others from a heart of love
Is what He asks of you. —Fasick
Life takes on new meaning when we invest ourselves in others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 22nd , 2010
Sanctification (1)
This is the will of God, your sanctification. . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3
The Death Side. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid. There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification is realized— something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ. When the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle starts immediately. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . his own life . . . he cannot be My disciple” ( Luke 14:26 ).
In the process of sanctification, the Spirit of God will strip me down until there is nothing left but myself, and that is the place of death. Am I willing to be myself and nothing more? Am I willing to have no friends, no father, no brother, and no self-interest— simply to be ready for death? That is the condition required for sanctification. No wonder Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword” ( Matthew 10:34 ). This is where the battle comes, and where so many of us falter. We refuse to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ on this point. We say, “But this is so strict. Surely He does not require that of me.” Our Lord is strict, and He does require that of us.
Am I willing to reduce myself down to simply “me”? Am I determined enough to strip myself of all that my friends think of me, and all that I think of myself? Am I willing and determined to hand over my simple naked self to God? Once I am, He will immediately sanctify me completely, and my life will be free from being determined and persistent toward anything except God (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ).
When I pray, “Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,” He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus puts in me— it is Himself in me (see 1 Corinthians 1:30 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Realizing You Were Made For More - #6139
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Our grandson's been on a very limited diet - just mother's milk or baby formula for his first six months. But something's been happening in the last couple of weeks. He has suddenly become fascinated with what the rest of us are eating. Fascinated, you know, as in staring at the food on our plate, the fork going down to get that food, the fork coming up to put that food in our mouth, and our mouth as it's chewing that food. Then repeat the exercise as the fork goes down for another bite. You can tell by the longing look in his eyes, he's not content with that milk or formula anymore. He wants some of that good stuff. If he could talk, I think he might be saying, "Hey! I've been made for more than what I've been getting!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Realizing You Were Made For More."
Our grandson's growing dissatisfaction with his liquid diet is actually setting the stage for moving to something much better. In fact, many all grown-up people have some of those same feelings, "I've been made for more than what I've experienced so far." The good news is that, in many lives, restlessness like that has immediately preceded the greatest life upgrade those people have ever experienced.
Many of us know the feeling of a life that is full but not fulfilling. For all the things we've done to get some love, there's never been enough. We're still lonely. For everything we've tried to give more meaning to our life, nothing has ever really satisfied our soul. We're still wondering what the point of it all is. For all we've thought would give us some lasting peace inside, the unrest in our soul just won't go away. Even if you seem to have everything going your way, your heart may still be saying, "I'm made for more than this."
And your heart's right. It's just that the "something more" has always been elusive. It may be within your reach today, if you reach the right direction. Who could have more love, more meaning, more peace to give than the God who gave us our life in the first place? Here's what He says in Isaiah 55, beginning with verse 1; it's our word for today from the Word of God. "Come, all you who are thirsty (or "all you who are restless for more."), come to the waters...come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare...hear Me, that your soul may live."
God says, "Don't waste any more time or energy on things that can never satisfy your soul. I've got what you're looking for." And where can you find it? It's not in a church. It's not in a religion. It's in a person. Here's what the Bible says about God's Son, Jesus: "All things were created by Him and for Him (that includes you) ... in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 1:16, 2:9). It goes on to say, "You are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10, KJV). Complete, fulfilled, at peace, because you've found the One you were made by and made for.
Sadly, we haven't lived our life for the One we were made for. We've made it all about me instead of all about Him. So we're away from the One who has the "something more" that we were made for. But in the greatest act of love in human history, Jesus paid the price to give us a chance at knowing God. This same book of the Bible says that He reconciled us to God "by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20). We can have life now and life forever because He gave up His life for us. But, thank God, He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead; so He's alive right now and inviting you to turn to Him for what only He can give.
This life-changing relationship with Jesus begins the moment you say, "Lord, I give up running my life. It's Yours to run from now on. I'm putting myself completely in the hands of Jesus, the Man who died and rose again for me." It's exciting to think that this day could be the day that your long search finally ends. A lot of people have found help getting started with Jesus at our website. I want to invite you to check it out. It's simply yoursforlife.net. Or you can call to get this information in my "Yours For Life" booklet. It's 877-741-1200 that you can call and get it.
Jesus is the "something more" you were made for, and He's within your reach today. I am praying that you won't miss Him.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Philippians 2, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Adopted
Adopted
Posted: 20 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him, keep his commands, and obey him.” Deuteronomy 13:4
Christ’s kingdom is . . . a kingdom where membership is granted, not purchased. You are placed into God’s kingdom. You are “adopted.” And this occurs not when you do enough, but when you simply admit you can’t do enough. You don’t earn it; you simply accept it. As a result, you serve, not out of arrogance or fear, but out of gratitude.
Philippians 2
He Took on the Status of a Slave
1-4If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9-11Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
Rejoicing Together
12-13What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
14-16Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof that I didn't go to all this work for nothing.
17-18Even if I am executed here and now, I'll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ's altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout's fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don't feel sorry for me.
19-24I plan (according to Jesus' plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy's the real thing. He's been a devoted son to me as together we've delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I'm hoping and praying to be right on his heels.
25-27But for right now, I'm dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I'm sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he's been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others.
28-30So you can see why I'm so delighted to send him on to you. When you see him again, hale and hearty, how you'll rejoice and how relieved I'll be. Give him a grand welcome, a joyful embrace! People like him deserve the best you can give. Remember the ministry to me that you started but weren't able to complete? Well, in the process of finishing up that work, he put his life on the line and nearly died doing it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 1:10-18
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--
13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'"
16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
Bridging The Gap
July 21, 2010 — by Joe Stowell
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. —John 1:14
When my kids were young, I thought they would be impressed with what few accomplishments I may have had—that they would read my books and be impressed by my speaking engagements. But then I discovered that they hadn’t read any of my books and had no idea where I had been on a speaking gig. When my oldest son finally read one of my books, he told me that the only reason he read it was so that I would stop telling people that my children have never read my books!
Let’s face it—for the most part, kids are not impressed with our accomplishments. So the only way to bridge the gap is to meet them where they are, to get into their world—like getting into a game of Chutes and Ladders or playing catch in the backyard.
Jesus did this with us. John said of Jesus, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory” (John 1:14). In other words, He stooped down to our level when He came to this earth, which led to His greatest accomplishment of all: bridging the gap between His world and ours once and for all. Only then could we begin to understand how worthy He is of our utmost adoration and praise!
Our Lord is worthy all our days
Of all our love and highest praise;
He died to take our sin and shame—
Oh, bless the Savior’s holy name! —Egner
Jesus bridged the gap between the infinite God and finite man.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 21st , 2010
The Doorway to the Kingdom
Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . —Matthew 5:3
Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be— to be “pure in heart” ( Matthew 5:8 ), to do more than my duty, or to be completely devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as my Savior before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of a lofty ideal which only leads to despair. But when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach— He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The redemption means that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces a sense of despair in the natural man— exactly what Jesus means for it to do. As long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possessions; not making decisions for Jesus, but having such a sense of absolute futility that we finally admit, “Lord, I cannot even begin to do it.” Then Jesus says, “Blessed are you . . .” ( Matthew 5:11 ). This is the doorway to the kingdom, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are actually poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the proper place where Jesus Christ accomplishes His work.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Summer heat time is not when you want your car air conditioner to go out on you - especially when you're driving a long trip. Tough - that's when the a/c decided to die on us. Now I know that brave people survived without air conditioning for centuries. You know, somehow that philosophical observation didn't make me feel any better as we sped along with our windows open and hot air slowly putting the driver to sleep. Oh, but there's more. More than once, belching black exhaust smoke came blowing in our open windows. Then there was the discarded cigarette butt that bounced off the window, narrowly missing the driver. We really enjoyed the spider that came in, of course, and the clumps of pollen; they were great. Probably our favorite thing of all was what came flying at us from two tractor trailers that passed us. Now, I'm not going to give you all the gory details but I will tell you that those trucks were carrying cattle. Open window: kind of a nasty trip.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Open Window."
It's amazing what can get in when you leave the window open - stuff you really don't want inside. But that could be exactly what's happening in your life right now; a lot of nasty stuff is coming in because you've left the window open.
That's one reason God gives us some very practical advice to avoid getting stuff you don't really want in your life. It's brief. It's to the point, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. Ephesians 4:27 says, "Do not give the devil a foothold." Or we might say, don't leave any window open that the devil could use to get in.
The context of this actually warning provides us with some specific examples of how that can happen. The verse before the "no foothold" verse talks about anger that you allow to last more than a day. Smoldering anger morphs into more anger, then into resentment and hard feelings, and ultimately into a damaging, broken and hostile relationship. All because you didn't close the window before the devil blew in all his anger junk. Whatever the issue is, get over it - fast!
The verses after this "keep the devil out" warning talk about not stealing. It's true that anytime you cheat or take what isn't yours to have, you might as well say, "Devil, come on in and mess up my life." Then the next verses talk about unkind words - which leave wounds that can become something very ugly and divisive. That's the little seed the devil needs to grow some major hurt and destruction. Bitterness is mentioned here, too. Maybe you've let bitterness and hard feelings set up shop in your heart. You've opened the window to something that will turn you hard, poison innocent people, and it will make you its slave. And forgiving is the only way to get rid of bitterness poison. Then close the window and don't let any of those kinds of feelings get inside again.
Unresolved conflicts, a wandering eye, playing with temptation that you should be avoiding like the plague, letting your passions push you to the moral edge, watching and listening to stuff that opens your heart to things you think you'll never do - those are open windows. Windows that you can't afford to leave open one more day.
For an open window is all that the enemy of your soul needs to corrupt and to ultimately control your life. So think about "Where's he been getting in?" It's much easier to close the window than to deal with the mess he will make of everything that you care about.
Adopted
Posted: 20 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him, keep his commands, and obey him.” Deuteronomy 13:4
Christ’s kingdom is . . . a kingdom where membership is granted, not purchased. You are placed into God’s kingdom. You are “adopted.” And this occurs not when you do enough, but when you simply admit you can’t do enough. You don’t earn it; you simply accept it. As a result, you serve, not out of arrogance or fear, but out of gratitude.
Philippians 2
He Took on the Status of a Slave
1-4If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9-11Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
Rejoicing Together
12-13What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
14-16Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof that I didn't go to all this work for nothing.
17-18Even if I am executed here and now, I'll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ's altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout's fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don't feel sorry for me.
19-24I plan (according to Jesus' plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy's the real thing. He's been a devoted son to me as together we've delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I'm hoping and praying to be right on his heels.
25-27But for right now, I'm dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I'm sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he's been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others.
28-30So you can see why I'm so delighted to send him on to you. When you see him again, hale and hearty, how you'll rejoice and how relieved I'll be. Give him a grand welcome, a joyful embrace! People like him deserve the best you can give. Remember the ministry to me that you started but weren't able to complete? Well, in the process of finishing up that work, he put his life on the line and nearly died doing it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 1:10-18
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--
13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'"
16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
Bridging The Gap
July 21, 2010 — by Joe Stowell
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. —John 1:14
When my kids were young, I thought they would be impressed with what few accomplishments I may have had—that they would read my books and be impressed by my speaking engagements. But then I discovered that they hadn’t read any of my books and had no idea where I had been on a speaking gig. When my oldest son finally read one of my books, he told me that the only reason he read it was so that I would stop telling people that my children have never read my books!
Let’s face it—for the most part, kids are not impressed with our accomplishments. So the only way to bridge the gap is to meet them where they are, to get into their world—like getting into a game of Chutes and Ladders or playing catch in the backyard.
Jesus did this with us. John said of Jesus, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory” (John 1:14). In other words, He stooped down to our level when He came to this earth, which led to His greatest accomplishment of all: bridging the gap between His world and ours once and for all. Only then could we begin to understand how worthy He is of our utmost adoration and praise!
Our Lord is worthy all our days
Of all our love and highest praise;
He died to take our sin and shame—
Oh, bless the Savior’s holy name! —Egner
Jesus bridged the gap between the infinite God and finite man.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 21st , 2010
The Doorway to the Kingdom
Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . —Matthew 5:3
Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be— to be “pure in heart” ( Matthew 5:8 ), to do more than my duty, or to be completely devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as my Savior before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of a lofty ideal which only leads to despair. But when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach— He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The redemption means that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces a sense of despair in the natural man— exactly what Jesus means for it to do. As long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possessions; not making decisions for Jesus, but having such a sense of absolute futility that we finally admit, “Lord, I cannot even begin to do it.” Then Jesus says, “Blessed are you . . .” ( Matthew 5:11 ). This is the doorway to the kingdom, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are actually poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the proper place where Jesus Christ accomplishes His work.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Summer heat time is not when you want your car air conditioner to go out on you - especially when you're driving a long trip. Tough - that's when the a/c decided to die on us. Now I know that brave people survived without air conditioning for centuries. You know, somehow that philosophical observation didn't make me feel any better as we sped along with our windows open and hot air slowly putting the driver to sleep. Oh, but there's more. More than once, belching black exhaust smoke came blowing in our open windows. Then there was the discarded cigarette butt that bounced off the window, narrowly missing the driver. We really enjoyed the spider that came in, of course, and the clumps of pollen; they were great. Probably our favorite thing of all was what came flying at us from two tractor trailers that passed us. Now, I'm not going to give you all the gory details but I will tell you that those trucks were carrying cattle. Open window: kind of a nasty trip.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Open Window."
It's amazing what can get in when you leave the window open - stuff you really don't want inside. But that could be exactly what's happening in your life right now; a lot of nasty stuff is coming in because you've left the window open.
That's one reason God gives us some very practical advice to avoid getting stuff you don't really want in your life. It's brief. It's to the point, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. Ephesians 4:27 says, "Do not give the devil a foothold." Or we might say, don't leave any window open that the devil could use to get in.
The context of this actually warning provides us with some specific examples of how that can happen. The verse before the "no foothold" verse talks about anger that you allow to last more than a day. Smoldering anger morphs into more anger, then into resentment and hard feelings, and ultimately into a damaging, broken and hostile relationship. All because you didn't close the window before the devil blew in all his anger junk. Whatever the issue is, get over it - fast!
The verses after this "keep the devil out" warning talk about not stealing. It's true that anytime you cheat or take what isn't yours to have, you might as well say, "Devil, come on in and mess up my life." Then the next verses talk about unkind words - which leave wounds that can become something very ugly and divisive. That's the little seed the devil needs to grow some major hurt and destruction. Bitterness is mentioned here, too. Maybe you've let bitterness and hard feelings set up shop in your heart. You've opened the window to something that will turn you hard, poison innocent people, and it will make you its slave. And forgiving is the only way to get rid of bitterness poison. Then close the window and don't let any of those kinds of feelings get inside again.
Unresolved conflicts, a wandering eye, playing with temptation that you should be avoiding like the plague, letting your passions push you to the moral edge, watching and listening to stuff that opens your heart to things you think you'll never do - those are open windows. Windows that you can't afford to leave open one more day.
For an open window is all that the enemy of your soul needs to corrupt and to ultimately control your life. So think about "Where's he been getting in?" It's much easier to close the window than to deal with the mess he will make of everything that you care about.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Colossians 3, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Dangerous Liberty
Dangerous Liberty
Posted: 19 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.” 1 Peter 1:17, The Message
Each life is . . . a story to be written.
The Author starts each life story, but each life will write his or her own ending.
What a dangerous liberty. How much safer it would have been to finish the story for each Adam. To script every opinion. It would have been simpler. It would have been safer.
But it would not have been love.
Love is only love if chosen.
Colossians 3
He Is Your Life
1-2 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3-4Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
5-8And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
9-11Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
12-14So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
18Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.
19Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don't take advantage of them.
20Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.
21Parents, don't come down too hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits.
22-25Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 1:1-10
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Encouragement to Be Faithful
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.
5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Grace, Mercy, And Peace
July 20, 2010 — by Albert Lee
Bless the Lord, . . . who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies. —Psalm 103:1,4
The words grace and peace are found in all of Paul’s greetings in his New Testament letters to the churches. And in his letters to Timothy and Titus, he also includes mercy: “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (2 Tim. 1:2). Let’s examine each of these words.
Grace is what our holy God gives that we, as sinful people, don’t deserve. In Acts 17:25, we learn that “He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” His gifts include our very next breath. Even in our darkest hour, strength is given by God so that we can endure.
Mercy is what God withholds that we do deserve. In Lamentations 3:22, we read, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed.” Even when we’re wayward, God gives time and help for us to turn back to Him.
Peace is what God brings to His people. Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). Even in the worst of times, we have inner tranquillity because our God is in control.
We can be encouraged that throughout our lives the Lord will give us the grace, mercy, and peace we need to live for Him.
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace. —Flint
God’s grace is immeasurable, His mercy is inexhaustible, His peace is inexpressible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 20th , 2010
Dependent on God’s Presence
Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint —Isaiah 40:31
There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” ( John 1:35-36 ). There is nothing abstract or obscure in the Bible; everything is vivid and real. God does not say, “Be spiritual,” but He says, “Walk before Me. . .” ( Genesis 17:1 ).
When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up “with wings like eagles” ( Isaiah 40:31 ), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.
Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of— “We will not fear, even though . . .” ( Psalm 46:2 )— will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God’s presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, “He has been here all the time!” At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, “Oh, Lord, direct me in this, and in that.” Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! If our everyday decisions are not according to His will, He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Only One Choice - #6137
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The other night, as I was "remoting" my way across our TV channels, I came to a quick stop when I saw that one particular movie was on - "Chariots of Fire." Years ago, it won the Oscar for "Best Movie," but that's not why I stopped to watch it - it was because of how that movie impacted me the first time I saw it. It's the story of Eric Liddell, a famous Scottish Olympic runner. He had reached his dream of representing the United Kingdom as a 100-meter runner in the 1924 Olympics. Then, en route to the Games, he learned that his event would be on Sunday - the day Eric Liddell believed was reserved for God. A day on which his deep convictions would not allow him to participate.
The movie portrays the pressure placed on Eric Liddell to run that Sunday - pressure that came even from the future King of England. Liddell puts God first and stands his ground. He accepts the suggestion that he run later in an event that was not his event - the 400-meter race. There is a memorable moment in the movie when another runner slips Eric Liddell a note just before his race. It reads, "The old Book says, 'He that honors Me I will honor.'" That day Eric Liddell won the gold...and, as the movie points out at the end, went on to become a missionary to China who died for the Lord in a prison camp - and, as the movie says, "All Scotland mourned."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Only One Choice."
Eric Liddell realized that when there's a choice between compromising and your convictions, there's really only one choice - taking your stand, no matter what it may cost. And God did honor this man who honored him. And 60 years after this man's integrity made Olympic headlines, a Hollywood producer told that story to the world in the year's best movie.
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 4:5. It's only eight words - you can memorize them...and you should. They will give you a compass to guide you through thousands of decisions in your life...both big and small. Here's Psalm 4:5 - "Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord."
Your mission remains unchanged - at work, at school, at home, in your relationships - always do the right thing. Always tell the truth...always do the honest thing...always take the high road...always say no to temptation...always forgive...always put the other person first...always give God the glory...and when there's a question, always err on the side of integrity. Your job is just to do the right thing - even when it costs. That's what the word "sacrifices" tells us - "offer right sacrifices."
But often all your righteous efforts will not be nearly enough to make it happen. That's where the second part of the verse comes in. After you've done the right thing, "trust in the Lord" to do what you could never do. You do your best - God does the rest. But He does it in response to you doing what's right. Your commitment to the right thing isn't what will bring about the result you need...it's the trigger that causes God to show up and do amazing things.
Life is so much less confusing when you've already decided your bottom line - "I will always do what's right...I will always do what God can honor." "Offer right sacrifices"...then, "trust in the Lord." Before you run each day's race, let God hand you His note that says, "He that honors Me I will honor" (1 Samuel 2:30).
Dangerous Liberty
Posted: 19 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.” 1 Peter 1:17, The Message
Each life is . . . a story to be written.
The Author starts each life story, but each life will write his or her own ending.
What a dangerous liberty. How much safer it would have been to finish the story for each Adam. To script every opinion. It would have been simpler. It would have been safer.
But it would not have been love.
Love is only love if chosen.
Colossians 3
He Is Your Life
1-2 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3-4Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
5-8And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
9-11Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
12-14So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
18Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.
19Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don't take advantage of them.
20Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.
21Parents, don't come down too hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits.
22-25Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 1:1-10
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Encouragement to Be Faithful
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.
5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Grace, Mercy, And Peace
July 20, 2010 — by Albert Lee
Bless the Lord, . . . who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies. —Psalm 103:1,4
The words grace and peace are found in all of Paul’s greetings in his New Testament letters to the churches. And in his letters to Timothy and Titus, he also includes mercy: “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (2 Tim. 1:2). Let’s examine each of these words.
Grace is what our holy God gives that we, as sinful people, don’t deserve. In Acts 17:25, we learn that “He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” His gifts include our very next breath. Even in our darkest hour, strength is given by God so that we can endure.
Mercy is what God withholds that we do deserve. In Lamentations 3:22, we read, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed.” Even when we’re wayward, God gives time and help for us to turn back to Him.
Peace is what God brings to His people. Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). Even in the worst of times, we have inner tranquillity because our God is in control.
We can be encouraged that throughout our lives the Lord will give us the grace, mercy, and peace we need to live for Him.
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace. —Flint
God’s grace is immeasurable, His mercy is inexhaustible, His peace is inexpressible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 20th , 2010
Dependent on God’s Presence
Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint —Isaiah 40:31
There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” ( John 1:35-36 ). There is nothing abstract or obscure in the Bible; everything is vivid and real. God does not say, “Be spiritual,” but He says, “Walk before Me. . .” ( Genesis 17:1 ).
When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up “with wings like eagles” ( Isaiah 40:31 ), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.
Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of— “We will not fear, even though . . .” ( Psalm 46:2 )— will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God’s presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, “He has been here all the time!” At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, “Oh, Lord, direct me in this, and in that.” Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! If our everyday decisions are not according to His will, He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Only One Choice - #6137
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The other night, as I was "remoting" my way across our TV channels, I came to a quick stop when I saw that one particular movie was on - "Chariots of Fire." Years ago, it won the Oscar for "Best Movie," but that's not why I stopped to watch it - it was because of how that movie impacted me the first time I saw it. It's the story of Eric Liddell, a famous Scottish Olympic runner. He had reached his dream of representing the United Kingdom as a 100-meter runner in the 1924 Olympics. Then, en route to the Games, he learned that his event would be on Sunday - the day Eric Liddell believed was reserved for God. A day on which his deep convictions would not allow him to participate.
The movie portrays the pressure placed on Eric Liddell to run that Sunday - pressure that came even from the future King of England. Liddell puts God first and stands his ground. He accepts the suggestion that he run later in an event that was not his event - the 400-meter race. There is a memorable moment in the movie when another runner slips Eric Liddell a note just before his race. It reads, "The old Book says, 'He that honors Me I will honor.'" That day Eric Liddell won the gold...and, as the movie points out at the end, went on to become a missionary to China who died for the Lord in a prison camp - and, as the movie says, "All Scotland mourned."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Only One Choice."
Eric Liddell realized that when there's a choice between compromising and your convictions, there's really only one choice - taking your stand, no matter what it may cost. And God did honor this man who honored him. And 60 years after this man's integrity made Olympic headlines, a Hollywood producer told that story to the world in the year's best movie.
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 4:5. It's only eight words - you can memorize them...and you should. They will give you a compass to guide you through thousands of decisions in your life...both big and small. Here's Psalm 4:5 - "Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord."
Your mission remains unchanged - at work, at school, at home, in your relationships - always do the right thing. Always tell the truth...always do the honest thing...always take the high road...always say no to temptation...always forgive...always put the other person first...always give God the glory...and when there's a question, always err on the side of integrity. Your job is just to do the right thing - even when it costs. That's what the word "sacrifices" tells us - "offer right sacrifices."
But often all your righteous efforts will not be nearly enough to make it happen. That's where the second part of the verse comes in. After you've done the right thing, "trust in the Lord" to do what you could never do. You do your best - God does the rest. But He does it in response to you doing what's right. Your commitment to the right thing isn't what will bring about the result you need...it's the trigger that causes God to show up and do amazing things.
Life is so much less confusing when you've already decided your bottom line - "I will always do what's right...I will always do what God can honor." "Offer right sacrifices"...then, "trust in the Lord." Before you run each day's race, let God hand you His note that says, "He that honors Me I will honor" (1 Samuel 2:30).
Monday, July 19, 2010
Colossians 1, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: An Inviting God
An Inviting God
Posted: 18 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Jesus said, ‘Come.’” Matthew 14:29
You can’t read anything about God without finding him issuing invitations. He invited Eve to marry Adam, the animals to enter the ark, David to be king, Israel to leave bondage, Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem. God is an inviting God. He invited Mary to birth his son, the disciples to fish for men, the adulterous woman to start over, and Thomas to touch his wounds. God is the King who prepares the palace, sets the table, and invites his subjects to come in.
Colossians 1
1-2I, Paul, have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God's master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!
Working in His Orchard
3-5Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can't quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you! We keep getting reports on your steady faith in Christ, our Jesus, and the love you continuously extend to all Christians. The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.
5-8The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn't diminish or weaken over time. It's the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you've been hungry for more. It's as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras. He is one reliable worker for Christ! I could always depend on him. He's the one who told us how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit.
9-12Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.
Christ Holds It All Together
15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
18-20He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
21-23You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.
24-25I want you to know how glad I am that it's me sitting here in this jail and not you. There's a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world—the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church's part of that suffering. When I became a servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God's way of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth.
26-29This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Hope
July 19, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link
You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. —Psalm 71:5
The ancient road from Jerusalem to Jericho is a narrow, treacherous path along a deep gorge in the Judean wilderness. Its name is Wadi Kelt, but it’s known as the valley of the shadow, for this is the location that inspired David’s 23rd Psalm. The place itself offers little reason to compose such a hopeful poem. The landscape is bleak, barren, and perilously steep. It’s a good place for thieves, but not for anyone else.
When David wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (v.4), he was in a place where evil was an ever-present reality. Yet he refused to give in to fear. He wasn’t expressing hope that God would abolish evil so that he could pass through safely; he was saying that the presence of God gave him the confidence to pass through difficult places without fear of being deserted by Him. In another psalm, David said that the Lord was his hope (71:5).
Many claim to have hope, but only those whose hope is Christ can claim it with certainty. Hope comes not from strength, intelligence, or favorable circumstances, but from the Lord. As Maker of heaven and earth, He alone has the right to promise hope and the power to keep the promise.
Our strength and hope is in the Lord—
We rest secure in His sure Word;
And though we’re tempted to despair
We know we’re kept within His care. —D. De Haan
Hope for the Christian is a certainty—because its basis is Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 19th , 2010
The Submission of the Believer
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am —John 13:13
Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.” No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face or we can put Him to death, as others have done; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me. It is a complete and effective domination, in which I acknowledge that “You are worthy, O Lord . . .” ( Revelation 4:11 ). It is simply the unworthiness within me that refuses to bow down or to submit to one who is worthy. When I meet someone who is more holy than myself, and I don’t recognize his worthiness, nor obey his instructions for me, it is a sign of my own unworthiness being revealed. God teaches us by using these people who are a little better than we are; not better intellectually, but more holy. And He continues to do so until we willingly submit. Then the whole attitude of our life is one of obedience to Him.
If our Lord insisted on our obedience, He would simply become a taskmaster and cease to have any real authority. He never insists on obedience, but when we truly see Him we will instantly obey Him. Then He is easily Lord of our life, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night. The level of my growth in grace is revealed by the way I look at obedience. We should have a much higher view of the word obedience, rescuing it from the mire of the world. Obedience is only possible between people who are equals in their relationship to each other; like the relationship between father and son, not that between master and servant. Jesus showed this relationship by saying, “I and My Father are one” ( John 10:30 ). “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” ( Hebrews 5:8 ). The Son was obedient as our Redeemer, because He was the Son, not in order to become God’s Son.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Fatal Refusal - #6136
Monday, July 19, 2010
It may happen to a community once in a lifetime, or even once in a century. But sometimes there are those disasters that define and redefine a town for years to come. The Johnstown, PA flood would be one famous historic example. You've probably never heard of the flood that swept into my wife's hometown years ago, but it was a major defining event for that town. She was a teenager when, with just a brief warning from upstream, the local creek burst out of its banks into a massive flash flood. While there was major damage done to the community, thankfully, only a few lives were lost. There were some older folks who lived on the south side of town. Rescuers came by their creekside house before that wall of water hit. They offered them a place in the lifeboat. They refused to get in. They said, "We've lived a long time, we've seen a whole lot. We've been fine this far. We'll be fine this time." They weren't. They died in that flood.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fatal Refusal."
It's a deadly mistake to refuse to get in a lifeboat - especially when it comes to being rescued from an eternity that none of us wants. Tragically, a whole lot of people are saying to Jesus, "No thanks. I don't think I'm going to need You. After all, I've gotten this far without You. I've been fine up to here. I'll take my chances without You." Strong, self-reliant, doing things for yourself, and proudly refusing to put your trust in Jesus. And, according to the Bible, doomed. Because this one you can't do for yourself.
I have no right to say this unless God says it, because He is the final word on heaven and hell. And He couldn't make Himself clearer than He does in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, our word for today from the Word of God. It's about the flood, it's about the Lifeboat called Jesus, and it's about the choice that determines your eternity. The Bible says, "The Lord Jesus will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power."
When that flood hit my wife's hometown, those folks who died didn't have to die. Provision had been made for them to live; to escape what was coming. But they wouldn't get in the lifeboat. On a cross, with nails driven through His hands and feet and a spear wound in His side, God's only Son, Jesus, died to pay for every wrong thing you and I have ever done. And we've lived long enough to have a long list of times we've done things our way instead of God's way. But Jesus paid for all of them. So the only people who will pay for their own sin are those who refused to trust the One who already paid for their sin.
So, God doesn't send anyone to hell. We send ourselves by refusing to get in the Lifeboat He provided at the cost of His life. It's a mistake I beg you not to make. You may have accomplished a lot in your life. You may be religious and respected. You may have done just about everything by yourself, but there's no way you can get your sins forgiven by yourself. No way you can remove what will keep you out of heaven. Only Jesus can do that. And His lifeboat is making one more pass by you right now, and He's asking you to get in. Some time will be the last time. If you've never given yourself to the Man who gave His life for you, please abandon the pride and the excuses that have kept you from Him. Tell Him, "Jesus, the battle's over. I'm Yours."
If you want to be sure you belong to Jesus the Rescuer, I'd like to send you my booklet, "Yours For Life" - it will help you nail down your personal relationship with Him. Just let me know you want it. The lifeboat's within your reach. And God's judgment is coming. Please get in while there's time.
An Inviting God
Posted: 18 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Jesus said, ‘Come.’” Matthew 14:29
You can’t read anything about God without finding him issuing invitations. He invited Eve to marry Adam, the animals to enter the ark, David to be king, Israel to leave bondage, Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem. God is an inviting God. He invited Mary to birth his son, the disciples to fish for men, the adulterous woman to start over, and Thomas to touch his wounds. God is the King who prepares the palace, sets the table, and invites his subjects to come in.
Colossians 1
1-2I, Paul, have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God's master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!
Working in His Orchard
3-5Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can't quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you! We keep getting reports on your steady faith in Christ, our Jesus, and the love you continuously extend to all Christians. The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.
5-8The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn't diminish or weaken over time. It's the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you've been hungry for more. It's as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras. He is one reliable worker for Christ! I could always depend on him. He's the one who told us how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit.
9-12Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.
Christ Holds It All Together
15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
18-20He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
21-23You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.
24-25I want you to know how glad I am that it's me sitting here in this jail and not you. There's a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world—the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church's part of that suffering. When I became a servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God's way of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth.
26-29This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Hope
July 19, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link
You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. —Psalm 71:5
The ancient road from Jerusalem to Jericho is a narrow, treacherous path along a deep gorge in the Judean wilderness. Its name is Wadi Kelt, but it’s known as the valley of the shadow, for this is the location that inspired David’s 23rd Psalm. The place itself offers little reason to compose such a hopeful poem. The landscape is bleak, barren, and perilously steep. It’s a good place for thieves, but not for anyone else.
When David wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (v.4), he was in a place where evil was an ever-present reality. Yet he refused to give in to fear. He wasn’t expressing hope that God would abolish evil so that he could pass through safely; he was saying that the presence of God gave him the confidence to pass through difficult places without fear of being deserted by Him. In another psalm, David said that the Lord was his hope (71:5).
Many claim to have hope, but only those whose hope is Christ can claim it with certainty. Hope comes not from strength, intelligence, or favorable circumstances, but from the Lord. As Maker of heaven and earth, He alone has the right to promise hope and the power to keep the promise.
Our strength and hope is in the Lord—
We rest secure in His sure Word;
And though we’re tempted to despair
We know we’re kept within His care. —D. De Haan
Hope for the Christian is a certainty—because its basis is Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 19th , 2010
The Submission of the Believer
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am —John 13:13
Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.” No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face or we can put Him to death, as others have done; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me. It is a complete and effective domination, in which I acknowledge that “You are worthy, O Lord . . .” ( Revelation 4:11 ). It is simply the unworthiness within me that refuses to bow down or to submit to one who is worthy. When I meet someone who is more holy than myself, and I don’t recognize his worthiness, nor obey his instructions for me, it is a sign of my own unworthiness being revealed. God teaches us by using these people who are a little better than we are; not better intellectually, but more holy. And He continues to do so until we willingly submit. Then the whole attitude of our life is one of obedience to Him.
If our Lord insisted on our obedience, He would simply become a taskmaster and cease to have any real authority. He never insists on obedience, but when we truly see Him we will instantly obey Him. Then He is easily Lord of our life, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night. The level of my growth in grace is revealed by the way I look at obedience. We should have a much higher view of the word obedience, rescuing it from the mire of the world. Obedience is only possible between people who are equals in their relationship to each other; like the relationship between father and son, not that between master and servant. Jesus showed this relationship by saying, “I and My Father are one” ( John 10:30 ). “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” ( Hebrews 5:8 ). The Son was obedient as our Redeemer, because He was the Son, not in order to become God’s Son.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Fatal Refusal - #6136
Monday, July 19, 2010
It may happen to a community once in a lifetime, or even once in a century. But sometimes there are those disasters that define and redefine a town for years to come. The Johnstown, PA flood would be one famous historic example. You've probably never heard of the flood that swept into my wife's hometown years ago, but it was a major defining event for that town. She was a teenager when, with just a brief warning from upstream, the local creek burst out of its banks into a massive flash flood. While there was major damage done to the community, thankfully, only a few lives were lost. There were some older folks who lived on the south side of town. Rescuers came by their creekside house before that wall of water hit. They offered them a place in the lifeboat. They refused to get in. They said, "We've lived a long time, we've seen a whole lot. We've been fine this far. We'll be fine this time." They weren't. They died in that flood.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fatal Refusal."
It's a deadly mistake to refuse to get in a lifeboat - especially when it comes to being rescued from an eternity that none of us wants. Tragically, a whole lot of people are saying to Jesus, "No thanks. I don't think I'm going to need You. After all, I've gotten this far without You. I've been fine up to here. I'll take my chances without You." Strong, self-reliant, doing things for yourself, and proudly refusing to put your trust in Jesus. And, according to the Bible, doomed. Because this one you can't do for yourself.
I have no right to say this unless God says it, because He is the final word on heaven and hell. And He couldn't make Himself clearer than He does in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, our word for today from the Word of God. It's about the flood, it's about the Lifeboat called Jesus, and it's about the choice that determines your eternity. The Bible says, "The Lord Jesus will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power."
When that flood hit my wife's hometown, those folks who died didn't have to die. Provision had been made for them to live; to escape what was coming. But they wouldn't get in the lifeboat. On a cross, with nails driven through His hands and feet and a spear wound in His side, God's only Son, Jesus, died to pay for every wrong thing you and I have ever done. And we've lived long enough to have a long list of times we've done things our way instead of God's way. But Jesus paid for all of them. So the only people who will pay for their own sin are those who refused to trust the One who already paid for their sin.
So, God doesn't send anyone to hell. We send ourselves by refusing to get in the Lifeboat He provided at the cost of His life. It's a mistake I beg you not to make. You may have accomplished a lot in your life. You may be religious and respected. You may have done just about everything by yourself, but there's no way you can get your sins forgiven by yourself. No way you can remove what will keep you out of heaven. Only Jesus can do that. And His lifeboat is making one more pass by you right now, and He's asking you to get in. Some time will be the last time. If you've never given yourself to the Man who gave His life for you, please abandon the pride and the excuses that have kept you from Him. Tell Him, "Jesus, the battle's over. I'm Yours."
If you want to be sure you belong to Jesus the Rescuer, I'd like to send you my booklet, "Yours For Life" - it will help you nail down your personal relationship with Him. Just let me know you want it. The lifeboat's within your reach. And God's judgment is coming. Please get in while there's time.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Ephesians 6, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Divinely Human
Divinely Human
Posted: 17 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.” 2 Timothy 2:8, NIV
In a letter written within earshot of the sharpening of the blade that would sever his head, Paul urged Timothy to “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David . . .”
Remember the dead called from the grave with a Galilean accent. Remember the eyes of God that wept human tears. And, most of all, remember this descendant of David who beat the hell out of death.
Ephesians 6
1-3 Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. "Honor your father and mother" is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, "so you will live well and have a long life." 4Fathers, don't exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.
5-8Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don't just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ's servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you're really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free.
9Masters, it's the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them.
A Fight to the Finish
10-12And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.
13-18Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
19-20And don't forget to pray for me. Pray that I'll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.
21-22Tychicus, my good friend here, will tell you what I'm doing and how things are going with me. He is certainly a dependable servant of the Master! I've sent him not only to tell you about us but to cheer you on in your faith.
23-24Good-bye, friends. Love mixed with faith be yours from God the Father and from the Master, Jesus Christ. Pure grace and nothing but grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus Christ.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 4:6-22
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Personal Remarks
9 Do your best to come to me quickly,
10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.
12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.
13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.
15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.
17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth.
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.
20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus.
21 Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.
22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
A Last Farewell
July 18, 2010 — by David C. McCasland
I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. —2 Timothy 4:6
After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, 47-year-old Randy Pausch returned to Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a final lecture to colleagues, students, and friends. The professor of computer science thought that perhaps 150 people might show up. Instead the 400-seat auditorium was packed. For an hour, Randy opened his heart to them in a humorous, insightful, and moving farewell that was focused more on living than dying. Within weeks, the videotaped lecture had been seen by millions on the Internet and later became the seed of a bestselling book. Those facing death often have an unusually clear perspective on what is truly important in life.
The apostle Paul’s last farewell has inspired countless followers of Christ through the centuries. “The time of my departure is at hand,” wrote Paul. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:6-7). Paul’s instruction to Timothy spans the ages to challenge us as well. The letter begins and ends with God’s grace (1:2; 4:22) and in between is a celebration of the unceasing faithfulness of God.
A message from the dying can give purpose to the living. Paul’s triumphant finale, “To Him be glory forever and ever” (4:18), is a message we can all live by.
Do we live our lives for what will last
Or for what will fade away?
Are we striving for the world’s praise
Or for Christ’s “well done” one day? —Sper
If we are ready to die, we are ready to live.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 18th , 2010
The Mystery of Believing
He said, "Who are You, Lord? —Acts 9:5
Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.
Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey ( Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1 ). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (seeJohn 3:19-21 ).
Divinely Human
Posted: 17 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.” 2 Timothy 2:8, NIV
In a letter written within earshot of the sharpening of the blade that would sever his head, Paul urged Timothy to “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David . . .”
Remember the dead called from the grave with a Galilean accent. Remember the eyes of God that wept human tears. And, most of all, remember this descendant of David who beat the hell out of death.
Ephesians 6
1-3 Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. "Honor your father and mother" is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, "so you will live well and have a long life." 4Fathers, don't exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.
5-8Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don't just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ's servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you're really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free.
9Masters, it's the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them.
A Fight to the Finish
10-12And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.
13-18Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
19-20And don't forget to pray for me. Pray that I'll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.
21-22Tychicus, my good friend here, will tell you what I'm doing and how things are going with me. He is certainly a dependable servant of the Master! I've sent him not only to tell you about us but to cheer you on in your faith.
23-24Good-bye, friends. Love mixed with faith be yours from God the Father and from the Master, Jesus Christ. Pure grace and nothing but grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus Christ.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 4:6-22
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Personal Remarks
9 Do your best to come to me quickly,
10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.
12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.
13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.
15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.
17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth.
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.
20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus.
21 Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.
22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
A Last Farewell
July 18, 2010 — by David C. McCasland
I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. —2 Timothy 4:6
After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, 47-year-old Randy Pausch returned to Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a final lecture to colleagues, students, and friends. The professor of computer science thought that perhaps 150 people might show up. Instead the 400-seat auditorium was packed. For an hour, Randy opened his heart to them in a humorous, insightful, and moving farewell that was focused more on living than dying. Within weeks, the videotaped lecture had been seen by millions on the Internet and later became the seed of a bestselling book. Those facing death often have an unusually clear perspective on what is truly important in life.
The apostle Paul’s last farewell has inspired countless followers of Christ through the centuries. “The time of my departure is at hand,” wrote Paul. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:6-7). Paul’s instruction to Timothy spans the ages to challenge us as well. The letter begins and ends with God’s grace (1:2; 4:22) and in between is a celebration of the unceasing faithfulness of God.
A message from the dying can give purpose to the living. Paul’s triumphant finale, “To Him be glory forever and ever” (4:18), is a message we can all live by.
Do we live our lives for what will last
Or for what will fade away?
Are we striving for the world’s praise
Or for Christ’s “well done” one day? —Sper
If we are ready to die, we are ready to live.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 18th , 2010
The Mystery of Believing
He said, "Who are You, Lord? —Acts 9:5
Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.
Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey ( Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1 ). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (seeJohn 3:19-21 ).
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