Max Lucado Daily: FROM WHOM DO I HEAR? - August 5, 2025
Why do we at times fail to detect the Holy Spirit? How can we be led by him? Here is a direct answer: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT).
God’s voice must outrank the voices of society. God wants us to be different. Not odd. Not peculiar. Our aim is not to blend in but to look up. If you want to hear from God, the first question you need to ask is not “What should I do?” but “Whom will I hear?”
Stop following a culture that doesn’t follow God and…start listening for the Spirit, who speaks on behalf of God.
Help Is Here
Mark 4:21-41
Giving, Not Getting
21–22 Jesus went on: “Does anyone bring a lamp home and put it under a washtub or beneath the bed? Don’t you put it up on a table or on the mantel? We’re not keeping secrets, we’re telling them; we’re not hiding things, we’re bringing them out into the open.
23 “Are you listening to this? Really listening?
24–25 “Listen carefully to what I am saying—and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.”
Never Without a Story
26–29 Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows—he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain. When the grain is fully formed, he reaps—harvest time!
30–32 “How can we picture God’s kingdom? What kind of story can we use? It’s like a pine nut. When it lands on the ground it is quite small as seeds go, yet once it is planted it grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches. Eagles nest in it.”
33–34 With many stories like these, he presented his message to them, fitting the stories to their experience and maturity. He was never without a story when he spoke. When he was alone with his disciples, he went over everything, sorting out the tangles, untying the knots.
The Wind Ran Out of Breath
35–38 Late that day he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?”
39–40 Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, “Quiet! Settle down!” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?”
41 They were in absolute awe, staggered. “Who is this, anyway?” they asked. “Wind and sea at his beck and call!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, August 05, 2025
by Nancy Gavilanes
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Deuteronomy 31:1-8
The Charge
1–2 31 Moses went on and addressed these words to all Israel. He said, “I’m 120 years old today. I can’t get about as I used to. And God told me, ‘You’re not going to cross this Jordan River.’
3–5 “God, your God, will cross the river ahead of you and destroy the nations in your path so that you may dispossess them. (And Joshua will cross the river before you, as God said he would.) God will give the nations the same treatment he gave the kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, and their land; he’ll destroy them. God will hand the nations over to you, and you’ll treat them exactly as I have commanded you.
6 “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”
7–8 Then Moses summoned Joshua. He said to him with all Israel watching, “Be strong. Take courage. You will enter the land with this people, this land that God promised their ancestors that he’d give them. You will make them the proud possessors of it. God is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t worry.”
Today's Insights
In Deuteronomy, Moses recounts in three speeches (chs. 1-4; 5-26; 27-34) the history of the Israelites about to enter the promised land. The forty years of discipline had ended, and all Israelites twenty years and older when the exodus began had died, except for Moses, Joshua, and Caleb (Numbers 14:29-35). Moses urged the Israelites to learn from their past unfaithfulness and to trust God (Deuteronomy 31:4-6). Moses himself wouldn’t enter Canaan because he’d dishonored God at Kadesh by striking the rock for water instead of only speaking to it (Numbers 20:1-13; Psalm 106:32-33). He was permitted, however, to see Canaan from Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34:1-5). As God was with the Israelites, He’s with all believers in Jesus even when we experience loneliness.
Never Alone
The Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
Over the years, I’ve encouraged and prayed for many people battling loneliness for various reasons: nursing home residents whose family members don’t visit, the widow who spends her days outside so as not to be alone in her empty house, ministry leaders who don’t have anyone to confide in, and homeless people who feel ignored and alone.
Loneliness can strike anyone at any time. The US Surgeon General released an advisory in May 2023 alerting the public about the epidemic of loneliness. About half of US adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, which can be as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, according to the advisory.
When Moses was getting ready to pass the torch to his successor, Joshua, he wanted to make sure the Israelites knew they wouldn’t be facing any battles alone as they entered the promised land: “Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). He also reminded their new leader, Joshua, that “the Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (v. 8).
And he concluded with words that can encourage us today: “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (v. 8).
When we’re facing loneliness, let’s take comfort in knowing that God will never leave nor forsake us.
Reflect & Pray
Why is it important to know you’re never alone? How comforting is it to know God is with you?
Dear God, thank You that I’m never alone.
For further study, read Mending a Broken Relationship.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, August 05, 2025
The Baffling Call of God
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.” . . . The disciples did not understand. — Luke 18:31,34
God called Jesus Christ to what seemed like unmitigated disaster. Jesus Christ called his disciples to see him put to death; he led them to the place where their hearts were broken and baffled. Jesus Christ’s life was an absolute failure from every viewpoint but God’s. But what seemed like failure to the world was a tremendous triumph to God, because God’s purpose is never humanity’s.
The baffling call of God comes in our lives, too. The call of God can never be stated outright. It is like the call of the sea. No one hears the call of the sea but those who have the nature of the sea within them. Similarly, no one hears the call of God but those who have God dwelling within them by the power of his Holy Spirit.
It cannot be stated definitely what the call of God is to; he calls us to enter into a relationship with him for his own purpose. The test is to believe that, though we cannot understand him, God knows what he is doing. Nothing happens by chance, only by his decree.
When we are in communion with God and recognize that he is taking us up into his purpose, we will stop trying to find out what his purpose is. This gets simpler as we go on in Christian life, because we begin to see that behind everything lies the great compelling of God.
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” A Christian is one who trusts the wits and wisdom of God. If instead we trust our own wits and wisdom, if we go off pursuing our own ends, we will destroy the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize our lives as children of God.
Psalms 68-69; Romans 8:1-21
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried.
He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, August 05, 2025
Who's Driving? - #10062
Our kids rode many miles in the old back seat of our car. And they had their share of turf battles over who was taking up more than his share of the seat. Pretty customary with three kids in the back seat when you drive quite a ways. They also spent some time sleeping there. In fact, I remember when our youngest was a baby. He would just doze off in his little infant seat right next to his brother who was two years older. We'd turn around and we'd see the little guy asleep and we'd say, "Oh, bless his heart."
And then a few minutes later we'd look back and his brother who was almost asleep, would peer out of one eye at us and say, "Bless my heart." I guess he wanted to make sure it got done in case we didn't bless it.
Well, some of our trips were like long distance marathons. With both my wife and I, marathon drivers. And some of those trips were in the dark and it was rainy and stormy even. And we've been through some very memorable lightning storms. Sometimes it's been snowing. Well, it didn't matter. The kids have over and over again just conked out, and then they'd wake up when we were there.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who's Driving?"
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from Proverbs 3:5-6. That might ring some bells. They are my daughter's favorite verses, my wife's favorite verses, and maybe you consider them to be yours. Here's what they say, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." In other words, you'll get to your destination if it's raining, snowing, storming, lightning, thunder. You'll get there if you follow this formula. Notice He says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." That means you have taken total hands off the situation. You're going to totally relax in what God's doing. You're not going to depend on what you're doing. Don't get in the way of His will with your bright ideas; don't lean on your own understanding.
It's like our children riding in the car with their father for all those marathon trips. Actually, the situation you're facing right now leaves you three choices in terms of navigation. Choice number one: You could try to drive - maybe that's what you've been doing. In fact, the more intense a situation gets, instead of getting desperate for God's larger help, we just grip the wheel more tightly. Well, if you're trying to drive, you'll crash just as if my kids were trying to drive when they were little.
The second thing you could try to do is help God get you to your destination. Imagine He's driving. You're in the car, but you're in the front seat and you're telling Him how He should drive. It's like a backseat driver in the front seat. Or you keep grabbing the wheel because you think you're going to crash. Well, you will if you drive. Or you think He's going too slowly, so you keep putting your foot on the accelerator. All you're going to do is make the trip longer and harder.
The other possibility is that you do what my children have done. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Well, in a sense, you'll crawl in the back seat and you'll say, "Father, I trust you. It's dark, it's stormy and I'm not sure where we're going, but I want to fight off the urge to try and drive. You drive, Father. Good night."
Where are you in this current situation in your life? Are you trying to drive or are you trying to help God drive? Or are you simply going to sleep in the back seat? Why don't you relax and let your Father drive. You'll wake up refreshed and you'll wake up right where you are supposed to be.
