Max Lucado Daily: It's the Father
One of my favorite childhood memories is greeting my father as he came home from work. My brother and I would take our positions on the couch and watch cartoons, always keeping one ear alert to the driveway. Even the best "Daffy Duck" would be abandoned when we heard his car. I'd run to meet Dad and get swept up in his big arms. He'd put his big-brimmed saw hat on my head, and for a moment I'd be a cowboy. When we went indoors and opened his lunch pail, any leftover snacks (which he always seemed to have) were for my brother and me to split. What more could a five-year-old want?
But suppose my dad, rather than coming home, just sent some things home. No deal. That wouldn't work. Even a five-year-old knows it's the person, not the presents. It's not the frills, it's the father!
From Dad Time
Job 42
Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[d] and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
Job 42:11 Hebrew him a kesitah; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Deuteronomy 32:7-12
Remember the days of old;
consider the generations long past.
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,
he set up boundaries for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.[a]
9 For the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.
12 The Lord alone led him;
no foreign god was with him.
Footnotes:
Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
Insight
Today’s reading provides us with a wonderful template for instructing the next generation in the provision of God. The entire “Song of Moses” extends from Deuteronomy 31:30–32:43. In it we see praise given for the God of Israel in spite of the nation’s periodic lapse into disobedience. In His good providence, God created for Himself a chosen people whom He has both redeemed and preserves. This theme of divine love that will not let go is to be reiterated to each new generation so that God’s covenant people may continue in relationship with their Creator and Sustainer. We learn from the New Testament that through Christ’s atoning work on the cross, this covenant has been extended to all who believe (Rom. 5:6-11).
Reframing The Picture
By Julie Ackerman Link
As an eagle stirs up its nest, . . . spreading out its wings, . . . so the Lord alone led [Jacob]. —Deuteronomy 32:11-12
For 3 months I had a ringside seat— or should I say a bird’s-eye view—of God’s amazing handiwork. Ninety feet above the floor of Norfolk Botanical Garden, workers installed a webcam focused on the nest of a family of bald eagles, and online viewers were allowed to watch.
When the eggs hatched, Mama and Papa Eagle were attentive to their offspring, taking turns hunting for food and guarding the nest. But one day when the eaglets still looked like fuzzballs with beaks, both parents disappeared. I worried that harm had come to them.
My concern was unfounded. The webcam operator enlarged the camera angle, and there was Mama Eagle perched on a nearby branch.
As I pondered this “reframed” picture, I thought of times when I have feared that God had abandoned me. The view in the forest heights of Virginia reminded me that my vision is limited. I see only a small part of the entire scene.
Moses used eagle imagery to describe God. As eagles carry their young, God carries His people (Deut. 32:11-12). Despite how it may seem, the Lord “is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). This is true even when we feel abandoned.
Under His wings I am safely abiding;
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him—I know He will keep me;
He has redeemed me and I am His child. —Cushing
Because the Lord is watching over us, we don’t have to fear the dangers around us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 05, 2014
God’s Assurance
He Himself has said . . . . So we may boldly say . . . —Hebrews 13:5-6
My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.
What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ’The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you . . . .’ ”
Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never. . . forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Fort Hood Wakeup Call - #7149
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Not again. That was my gut reaction when I saw the headline about another shooting at Fort Hood a while back. I just couldn't believe it when they said that the previous shooting on the base was five years ago. It seemed like yesterday.
And that story got sadder and sadder as it unfolded, because it was a soldier killing soldiers on a base filled with men and women who have heroically had multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were survivors of war zones and enemy attacks and they were wounded and killed at home by one of their own, who may have carried invisible wounds of his own.
You know, sadly, the tragedy of shooting our own is more prevalent than the headlines will ever reflect. Actually I've seen it happen repeatedly.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Fort Hood Wakeup Call."
As followers of Jesus attack their brothers and sisters in Christ. Yeah, that's when I've seen it happening - shooting our own. Often using the new "weapons of mass destruction" as accelerants of what they're doing: social networks, blogs, e-mail, along with old-fashioned gossip and backstabbing.
We shoot at people because they remind us of people who hurt us, or because of their worship style, their legalism, their liberalism, for their beliefs. Not so much in the 90% where Christians agree, but often in the 10% where we differ. Somehow we feel free to ditch what the Bible says, "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).
One faction accuses the other faction of being "judgmental." When, in fact, those factions differ only in who they judge. We conveniently bundle people who are different into easily dismissed, easily characterized categories. When, in fact, we are categories. We're individuals.
The result is the "us vs. them" vibe to a world that's supposed to - according to Jesus - know us by our love. He hasn't changed His mind about what He expects of those who carry His Name. He makes it very clear in our word for today from the Word of God in John 17:23. "May they be brought to complete unity so the world may know that You sent Me"
The trauma at Fort Hood is not without its lessons for those who are commanded by the Bible to be a "good soldier of Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:3). Here's five that I can think of. First of all, we're all wounded warriors. Every one of us has our battle scars, including those who've hurt us. If I knew my brother's story, I'd be a lot less likely to attack him. We know how it hurts to be unfairly criticized. Right? We know what it's like to be accused or characterized. So why do we keep that cycle of hurt going?
Secondly, there's no healing in attacking others. In fact, it just insures that we'll continue to be defined by our pain. That's a lousy way to live. Scripture solemnly warns us to "see to it that no one misses the grace of God..." Wow! Going without His grace? That's a terrifying prospect. How does that happen? It goes on to say, "...and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15). God's grace and my bitterness cannot coexist in the same heart.
Thirdly, only our enemy benefits when we shoot at other believers. When Jesus-followers publicly discredit others, we're doing Satan's work for him. After all, the word "devil" literally means "slanderer."
I think a fourth lesson that comes out of that Fort Hood tragedy of a soldier shooting his own is our attacks on one another give lost people another reason to stay lost. Because they can't see Christ because they're blinded by His followers belittling and diminishing each other.
And, you know, last of all we anger God when we attack a child of His. I mean, the Bible describes the church as Jesus' bride. He's not going to stand for someone attacking His Bride. We break our Savior's heart. We turn lost people away from Him when we form our firing squad in a circle.
Our army cannot prevail when we use our bullets against each other.
