Inspiration

[Judy Harder]

Week of December 12

Changing Our Nature
by Max Lucado


My dog Molly and I aren't getting along. The problem is not her personality. A sweeter mutt you will not find. She sees every person as a friend and every day as a holiday. I have no problem with Molly's attitude. I have a problem with her habits.

Eating scraps out of the trash. Licking dirty plates in the dishwasher. Dropping dead birds on our sidewalk and stealing bones from the neighbor's dog. Shameful! Molly rolls in the grass, chews on her paw, does her business in the wrong places, and, I'm embarrassed to admit, quenches her thirst in the toilet.

Now what kind of behavior is that?

Dog behavior, you reply.

You are right. So right. Molly's problem is not a Molly problem. Molly has a dog problem. It is a dog's nature to do such things. And it is her nature that I wish to change. Not just her behavior, mind you. A canine obedience school can change what she does; I want to go deeper. I want to change who she is.

Here is my idea: a me-to-her transfusion. The deposit of a Max seed in Molly. I want to give her a kernel of human character. As it grew, would she not change? Her human nature would develop, and her dog nature would diminish. We would witness, not just a change of habits, but a change of essence. In time Molly would be less like Molly and more like me, sharing my disgust for trash snacking, potty slurping, and dish licking. She would have a new nature. Why, Denalyn might even let her eat at the table.

You think the plan is crazy? Then take it up with God. The idea is his.

What I would like to do with Molly, God does with us. He changes our nature from the inside out! "I will put a new way of thinking inside you. I will take out the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies, and I will give you obedient hearts of flesh. I will put my Spirit inside you and help you live by my rules and carefully obey my laws" (Ezek. 36:26--27 NCV.).

God doesn't send us to obedience school to learn new habits; he sends us to the hospital to be given a new heart. Forget training; he gives transplants.

Do you understand what God has done? He has deposited a Christ seed in you. As it grows, you will change. It's not that sin has no more presence in your life, but rather that sin has no more power over your life. Temptation will pester you, but temptation will not master you. What hope this brings!

It's not up to you! Within you abides a budding power. Trust him!

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6 NIV.). God will do with you what I only dream of doing with Molly. Change you from the inside out. When he is finished, he'll even let you sit at his table.

From
Next Door Savior
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

[Judy Harder]

Week of December 19

Leave Your Enemies in God's Hands
by Max Lucado


Some years ago a rottweiler attacked our golden retriever puppy at a kennel. The worthless animal climbed out of its run and into Molly's and nearly killed her. He left her with dozens of gashes and a dangling ear. I wrote a letter to the dog's owner, urging him to put the dog to sleep.

But when I showed the letter to the kennel owner, she begged me to reconsider. "What that dog did was horrible, but I'm still training him. I'm not finished with him yet."

God would say the same about the rottweiler who attacked you. "What he did was unthinkable, unacceptable, inexcusable, but I'm not finished yet."

Your enemies still figure into God's plan. Their pulse is proof: God hasn't given up on them. They may be out of God's will, but not out of his reach. You honor God when you see them, not as his failures, but as his projects.

God occupies the only seat on the supreme court of heaven. He wears the robe and refuses to share the gavel. For this reason Paul wrote, "Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. 'I'll do the judging,' says God. 'I'll take care of it' " (Rom. 12:19 MSG).

Revenge removes God from the equation. Vigilantes displace and replace God. "I'm not sure you can handle this one, Lord. You may punish too little or too slowly. I'll take this matter into my hands, thank you."

Is this what you want to say? Jesus didn't. No one had a clearer sense of right and wrong than the perfect Son of God. Yet, "when he suffered, he didn't make any threats but left everything to the one who judges fairly" (1 Pet. 2:23 GOD'S WORD).

Only God assesses accurate judgments. We impose punishments too slight or severe. God dispenses perfect justice. Vengeance is his job. Leave your enemies in God's hands. You're not endorsing their misbehavior when you do. You can hate what someone did without letting hatred consume you. Forgiveness is not excusing.

Nor is forgiveness pretending. David didn't gloss over or sidestep Saul's sin. He addressed it directly. He didn't avoid the issue, but he did avoid Saul.

Do the same. Give grace, but, if need be, keep your distance. You can forgive the abusive husband without living with him. Be quick to give mercy to the immoral pastor, but be slow to give him a pulpit. Society can dispense grace and prison terms at the same time. Offer the child molester a second chance, but keep him off the playgrounds.

Forgiveness is not foolishness.

Forgiveness is, at its core, choosing to see your offender with different eyes. You don't excuse him, endorse her, or embrace them. You just route thoughts about them through heaven. You see your enemy as God's child and revenge as God's job.

By the way, how can we grace-recipients do anything less? Dare we ask God for grace when we refuse to give it? This is a huge issue in Scripture. Jesus was tough on sinners who refused to forgive other sinners. In the final sum, we give grace because we've been given grace.

From
Facing Your Giants
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

[Judy Harder]

Week of December 26

The Arrival
by Max Lucado

God had entered the world as a baby.

Yet, were someone to chance upon the sheep stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem that morning, what a peculiar scene they would behold.

The stable stinks like all stables do. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeks pungently in the air. The ground is hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor.

A more lowly place of birth could not exist.

Off to one side sit a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor; perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him--so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds.

Near the young mother sits the weary father. If anyone is dozing, he is. He can't remember the last time he sat down. And now that the excitement has subsided a bit, now that Mary and the baby are comfortable, he leans against the wall of the stable and feels his eyes grow heavy. He still hasn't figured it all out. The mystery of the event puzzles him. But he hasn't the energy to wrestle with the questions. What's important is that the baby is fine and that Mary is safe. As sleep comes he remembers the name the angel told him to use ... Jesus. "We will call him Jesus."

Wide awake is Mary. My, how young she looks! Her head rests on the soft leather of Joseph's saddle. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can't take her eyes off him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is he. She remembers the words of the angel. "His kingdom will never end." (Luke 1:33)

He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being.

Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.

She touches the face of the infant-God. How long was your journey!

This baby had overlooked the universe. These rags keeping him warm were the robes of eternity. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen. And worshiping angels had been replaced with kind but bewildered shepherds.

Meanwhile, the city hums. The merchants are unaware that God has visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe that he had just sent God into the cold. And the people would scoff at anyone who told them the Messiah lay in the arms of a teenager on the outskirts of their village. They were all too busy to consider the possibility.

Those who missed His Majesty's arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice; no, they missed it because they simply weren't looking.

Little has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?

From
God Came Near
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

[Judy Harder]

Week of December 2

Just a Moment
by Max Lucado


It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment.

As moments go, that one appeared no different than any other. If you could somehow pick it up off the timeline and examine it, it would look exactly like the ones that have passed while you have read these words. It came and it went. It was preceded and succeeded by others just like it. It was one of the countless moments that have marked time since eternity became measurable.

But in reality, that particular moment was like none other. For through that segment of time a spectacular thing occurred. God became a man. While the creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.

The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.

God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created.

God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother.

God had come near.

He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty.

For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached.

To think of Jesus in such a light is--well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn't it? It's not something we like to do; it's uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.

He's easier to stomach that way. There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable.

But don't do it. For heaven's sake, don't. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out.

It all happened in a moment. In one moment ... a most remarkable moment. The Word became flesh.

There will be another. The world will see another instantaneous transformation. You see, in becoming man, God made it possible for man to see God. When Jesus went home he left the back door open. As a result, "we will all be changed--in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." (1 Corinthians 15:51--52)

The first moment of transformation went unnoticed by the world. But you can bet your sweet September that the second one won't. The next time you use the phrase "just a moment, ... " remember that's all the time it will take to change this world.

From
God Came Near
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

[Judy Harder]

Week of January 9

Laws of the Lighthouse
by Max Lucado

The first of the year is known for three things: black-eyed peas, bowl games, and lists. Some don't eat black-eyed peas. Others hate football. But everybody likes lists.

The Bible certainly has its share of lists. Moses brought one down from the mountain.

There are lists of the gifts of the Spirit. Lists of good fruit and bad. Lists of salutations and greetings. Even the disciples' boat got into the action as it listed in the stormy Sea of Galilee. (If you smiled at that, then I've got a list of puns you'd enjoy.)

But the greatest day of lists is still New Year's Day. And the number one list is the list I call the Laws of the Lighthouse.

The Laws of the Lighthouse contain more than good ideas, personal preferences, and honest opinions. They are God-given, time-tested truths that define the way you should navigate your life. Observe them and enjoy secure passage. Ignore them and crash against the ragged rocks of reality.

Smart move. The wise captain shifts the direction of his craft according to the signal of the lighthouse. A wise person does the same.

Herewith, then, are the lights I look for and the signals I heed:

-- Love God more than you fear hell.
-- Once a week, let a child take you on a walk.
-- Make major decisions in a cemetery.
-- When no one is watching, live as if someone is.
-- Succeed at home first.
-- Don't spend tomorrow's money today.
-- Pray twice as much as you fret.
-- Listen twice as much as you speak.
-- Only harbor a grudge when God does.
-- Never outgrow your love of sunsets.
-- Treat people like angels; you will meet some and help make some.
-- 'Tis wiser to err on the side of generosity than on the side of scrutiny.
-- God has forgiven you; you'd be wise to do the same.
-- When you can't trace God's hand, trust his heart.
-- Toot your own horn and the notes will be flat.
-- Don't feel guilty for God's goodness.
-- The book of life is lived in chapters, so know your page number.
-- Never let the important be the victim of the trivial.
-- Live your liturgy.

To sum it all up:
Approach life like a voyage on a schooner. Enjoy the view. Explore the vessel. Make friends with the captain. Fish a little. And then get off when you get home.


From
In the Eye of the Storm
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

[Judy Harder]

Week of January 16

The Awaited One
by Max Lucado

We were a wreath of Light around the stable, a necklace of diamonds around the structure. Every angel had been called from his post for the coming, even Michael. None doubted God would, but none knew how He could, fulfill his promise.

I've heated the water!"

"No need to yell, Joseph I hear you fine."

Mary would have heard had Joseph whispered. The stable was even smaller than Joseph had imagined but the innkeeper was right- it was clean. I started to clear out the sheep and cow, but Michael stopped me. "The Father wants all of creation to witness the moment."

Mary cried out and gripped Joseph's arm with one hand and a feed trough with the other. The thrust in her abdomen lifted her back, and she leaned forward.

"Is it time?" Joseph asked.

She shot back a glance, and he had his answer.

Within moments the Awaited One was born. I was privileged to have a position close to the couple, only a step behind Michael. We both gazed into the wrinkled face of the infant. Joseph had placed hay in a feed trough, giving Jesus his first bed.

All of God was in the infant. Light encircled His face and radiated from His tiny hands. The very glory I had witnessed in His throne room now burst through His skin.

I felt we should sing but did not know what. We had no song. We had no verse. We had never seen the sight of God in a baby. When God had made a star, our words had roared. When He had delivered His servants, our tongues had flown with praise. Before His throne, our songs never ended. But what do you sing to God in a feed trough?

In that moment a wonderful thing happened. As we looked at the baby Jesus, the darkness lifted. Not the darkness of the night, but the darkness of the mystery. Heaven's enlightenment engulfed the legions.

Our minds were filled with the Truth we had never before known. We became aware for the first time of the Father's plan to rescue those who bear His name.

From An Angel's Story
(originally published as Cosmic Christmas)
Copyright (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2002, 2004) Max Lucado

[Judy Harder]

Week of January 23

He Loves to Be with the Ones He Loves
by Max Lucado

Holiday travel. It isn't easy. Then why do we do it? Why cram the trunks and endure the airports? You know the answer. We love to be with the ones we love.

The four-year-old running up the sidewalk into the arms of Grandpa.

The cup of coffee with Mom before the rest of the house awakes.

That moment when, for a moment, everyone is quiet as we hold hands around the table and thank God for family and friends and pumpkin pie.

We love to be with the ones we love.

May I remind you? So does God. He loves to be with the ones he loves. How else do you explain what he did? Between him and us there was a distance--a great span. And he couldn't bear it. He couldn't stand it. So he did something about it.

Before coming to the earth, "Christ himself was like God in every-thing.... But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant" (Phil. 2:6--7 NCV).

Why? Why did Jesus travel so far?

I was asking myself that question when I spotted the squirrels outside my window. A family of black-tailed squirrels has made its home amid the roots of the tree north of my office. We've been neighbors for three years now. They watch me peck the keyboard. I watch them store their nuts and climb the trunk. We're mutually amused. I could watch them all day. Sometimes I do.

But I've never considered becoming one of them. The squirrel world holds no appeal to me. Who wants to sleep next to a hairy rodent with beady eyes? (No comments from you wives who feel you already do.) Give up the Rocky Mountains, bass fishing, weddings, and laughter for a hole in the ground and a diet of dirty nuts? Count me out.

But count Jesus in. What a world he left. Our classiest mansion would be a tree trunk to him. Earth's finest cuisine would be walnuts on heaven's table. And the idea of becoming a squirrel with claws and tiny teeth and a furry tail? It's nothing compared to God becoming a one-celled embryo and entering the womb of Mary.

But he did. The God of the universe kicked against the wall of a womb, was born into the poverty of a peasant, and spent his first night in the feed trough of a cow. "The Word became flesh and lived among us" (John 1:14 NRSV). The God of the universe left the glory of heaven and moved into the neighborhood. Our neighborhood! Who could have imagined he would do such a thing.

Why? He loves to be with the ones he loves.

From Next Door Savior
Available in Hardback or Paperback

[Judy Harder]

A Woman's Walk
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Week of January 25, 2009
Miracles

"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted."  ~ Job 5:9

When US Airways flight 1549 went down in the Hudson River recently, I--like so many others--watched in awe to see everyone on board survive.  A crash like no other, the image in which most of the people stood on the wings of the slow-sinking craft demonstrated a surefire miracle, God's hand of protection, to say nothing of the captain's glider skills.  And strangely enough, the people looked as though they were standing on water.

The whole ordeal seemed surreal, almost textbook-like, right out of crew training: The impossible ditching where everyone survives. 

In the days that followed, one "Today Show" broadcast featured a self-proclaimed born-again Christian woman who gave accounts of people praying, even the flight attendants.  This touched my heart immensely because it was so personal.  As a flight attendant with US Airways for 16 years, I prayed over many airplanes and passengers.  And I know prayer works, even in the workplace.  It touches the heart of God.  It evokes lifelines of miracles.

I have been in four airplane emergencies myself, where I wasn't sure what the exact outcome would be.  But I knew the Lord was with me no matter what.  And in the instances where all I had was God and, as I looked before me, a whole lot of people whom I might have to save and rescue, God became my closest confidant, my most trusted friend and my strongest rock.  I saw many miracles.  And I knew others were praying, like those who watched on television, including my parents during one such occasion.  And my cohorts who prayed in prayer groups, Bible studies and prayer chains in US Airways' offices and break rooms.

Awesome isn't it--the power and love of God in action!

Who's praying in your office?  What prayer points has God given you?  What miracles do you and those around you need?  How about your company?  God is surely big enough and knows just how to bring you in safely.  Will you trust Him?  Will you let Him guide you and direct your path?  Is He your rock?

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Margaret D. Mitchell is the founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ. Check out the new God's Love at Work Businesswomen Select program and the Women's Fellowship gatherings.

[Judy Harder]

Week of January 18, 2009
Truth

"Teach me your way, Oh Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."  ~ Psalm 86:11

Recently, I drove to my local mall on a quest to find a bottle of Calvin Klein's Truth cologne for my husband.  He had run out, and it was two days before Christmas.  I managed to press through crowds of holiday shoppers at Macy's and up to the nearest cosmetic counter.  Overwhelmed, I asked the nearest cosmetic girl, "Do you have any Truth?" 

My heart pounded as she replied, "They discontinued it!"

"What!" I retorted.  "I can't believe they discontinued Truth!" 

The cosmetic girl then quickly reached for a gift box from underneath a pile on the countertop.  "There's one box left," she said, handing it to me.

Just as this uncovered gift of Truth restored my peace of mind, I was reminded – in a most amusing way – that God's truth sets us free.   

The Holy Spirit has a way of testing our hearts to reveal the untruths that keep us in bondage, the half-hearted commitments that lurk to derail our relationships, those little but important nuances that distance us from Him. 

Consider Sapphira in Acts 5 who, along with her husband, fell dead before the church after lying to the Holy Spirit.  Seem harsh?  Maybe to us, but God knows just what He's doing—all the time.  The NIV tells us that such dire consequences were necessary for God to demonstrate to the church at the outset that dishonesty is unprofitable and intolerable.

And Romans 6:23 warns us that "the wages of sin is death."  We often don't think of this literally in modern society.  But God has ways of stressing His point with great clarity.  And often He will reveal matters of the heart publicly if they are not dealt with privately.

God has a timeline, and He's right on time.  Anything in our hearts that cause us to interfere with His timing and will must go.  God is all about moving forward, taking us from glory to glory, resetting our hearts and minds on higher things and helping us reach our destiny.  He loves us too much to let us stay stuck. 

What happened to Sapphira made a lasting impression to the onlookers that, no doubt, impacted their walk greatly.  I believe that the God of truth's glory was so great in that church at that time that no one could have stood in His presence and lied and survived. 

As we move through 2009, may we continually hearken to the truth of Deuteronomy 30:19, which advises us to "choose life," not only for the purpose of receiving God's finest blessings and profitability but to simply honor the God who loves us in wholehearted truth.

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Margaret D. Mitchell is the founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ. Check out the new God's Love at Work Businesswomen Select program and the Women's Fellowship gatherings.

[Judy Harder]

Week of February 1, 2009
Humility

"For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them."  ~ Matthew 13:15

Frequently, I receive prayer requests from people whose hearts have been 'worked over' by false accusations and persecution, often through bosses or family members.  They feel they are at the end of their rope to help themselves, and they are right.

Since Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we do not fight against people but against dark spiritual forces, what artillery do we use in the face of persecutors?

Humility.

Humility is the number one power weapon against spirits of prideful arrogance and ungodly control tactics.  And it is far from a copout.  Just ask Jesus.

If we remain humble in the face of persecutors and take the situation to the Lord in prayer, He will intervene in our circumstances and guide us from there.

I have learned that fighting back through my own words and means—instead of turning to God for resolution—creates within the human heart pride, self-righteousness, bitterness and callousness, which in turn distances us from God so that we cannot hear Him.

Long term, operating in these sins can destroy every area of our lives, no matter how justified we feel we are.  We can even get to a point where our soul grieves and becomes so downcast it enters into deep despair.  To make matters worse, when we get to that state of spiritual heaviness, we may even blame God due to our lack of understanding, and we may find ourselves in such a wilderness that we feel cut off from Him.

2 Chronicles 13:12 tells us to "not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed."

If you want to halt all success in your life, just fight against God.  He will let us remain in the wilderness for as long as we so choose.  But if we humble ourselves and repent, He will restore us and return us to an abundant life.  This can involve, however, a clean-up of the aftermath left by the very storm that we helped to create.

But remember this along the journey: Christ's glories follow suffering (1 Peter 1:11), and no one participated in more sufferings than Jesus Christ.  Participating in the sufferings of Christ offers us a facet of intimacy with Him that we would not experience otherwise.

Remember, too, that God gives grace to the humble and opposes the proud (1 Peter 4:6).  If we remain humble and continue to do good through suffering, He will exalt us in due time.

We can actually shorten our time in the wilderness by being carefully obedient.  And we can stand on God's promise to restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast (1 Peter 5:10).
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Margaret D. Mitchell is the founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ. Check out the new God's Love at Work Businesswomen Select program and the Women's Fellowship gatherings.