Max Lucado Daily: Christ in You
Proliferating throughout Scripture is an enticing and inviting preposition -the preposition "in." Jesus lives in his children. From Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
God in us! Have we sounded the depth of this promise? With God in you, you have a million resources you didn't have before. Can't stop worrying? Christ can. And he lives within you. Can't forget the past, forgive the jerk, or forsake your bad habits? Christ can! And he lives in you.
Oh to be so full of him that we could say with the apostle Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me!"
From In the Manger
Numbers 29
Offerings for the Festival of Trumpets
“Celebrate the Festival of Trumpets each year on the first day of the appointed month in early autumn.[k] You must call an official day for holy assembly, and you may do no ordinary work. 2 On that day you must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 3 These must be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts[l] with the bull, four quarts[m] with the ram, 4 and two quarts[n] with each of the seven lambs. 5 In addition, you must sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering to purify yourselves and make yourselves right with the Lord.[o] 6 These special sacrifices are in addition to your regular monthly and daily burnt offerings, and they must be given with their prescribed grain offerings and liquid offerings. These offerings are given as a special gift to the Lord, a pleasing aroma to him.
Offerings for the Day of Atonement
7 “Ten days later, on the tenth day of the same month,[p] you must call another holy assembly. On that day, the Day of Atonement, the people must go without food and must do no ordinary work. 8 You must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 9 These offerings must be accompanied by the prescribed grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts of choice flour with the bull, four quarts of choice flour with the ram, 10 and two quarts of choice flour with each of the seven lambs. 11 You must also sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering. This is in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular daily burnt offering with its grain offering, and their accompanying liquid offerings.
Offerings for the Festival of Shelters
12 “Five days later, on the fifteenth day of the same month,[q] you must call another holy assembly of all the people, and you may do no ordinary work on that day. It is the beginning of the Festival of Shelters,[r] a seven-day festival to the Lord. 13 On the first day of the festival, you must present a burnt offering as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 14 Each of these offerings must be accompanied by a grain offering of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts for each of the thirteen bulls, four quarts for each of the two rams, 15 and two quarts for each of the fourteen lambs. 16 You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.
17 “On the second day of this seven-day festival, sacrifice twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 18 Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. 19 You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.
20 “On the third day of the festival, sacrifice eleven young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 21 Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. 22 You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.
23 “On the fourth day of the festival, sacrifice ten young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 24 Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. 25 You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.
26 “On the fifth day of the festival, sacrifice nine young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 27 Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. 28 You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.
29 “On the sixth day of the festival, sacrifice eight young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 30 Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. 31 You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.
32 “On the seventh day of the festival, sacrifice seven young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 33 Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. 34 You must also sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.
35 “On the eighth day of the festival, proclaim another holy day. You must do no ordinary work on that day. 36 You must present a burnt offering as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. 37 Each of these offerings must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. 38 You must also sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.
39 “You must present these offerings to the Lord at your annual festivals. These are in addition to the sacrifices and offerings you present in connection with vows, or as voluntary offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, liquid offerings, or peace offerings.”
40 [s]So Moses gave all of these instructions to the people of Israel as the Lord had commanded him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 05, 2014
Read: 1 John 4:7-12
Loving One Another
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
Insight
The apostle John wrote today’s memorable words about love to a church struggling with the influences of false teachers. The words of verses 7-12 follow his instructions in verses 1-6 about identifying false teachers and false teaching (mainly by their view of Jesus). These verses indicate that love for God and for others is a key test for identifying those who truly follow Christ. Therefore, it is no surprise that John emphasizes the Christian characteristic of love. In today’s passage, he says that we ought to love one another, and in his gospel he records Jesus’ words, “By this, all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). How we treat one another is a demonstration of our love for God.
Human Chess
By Bill Crowder
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. —1 John 4:7
Chess is an ancient game of strategy. Each player begins with 16 pieces on the chessboard with the goal of cornering his opponent’s king. It has taken different forms over the years. One form is human chess, which was introduced around ad 735 by Charles Martel, duke of Austrasia. Martel would play the game on giant boards with real people as the pieces. The human pieces were costumed to reflect their status on the board and moved at the whim of the players—manipulating them to their own ends.
Could this human version of the game of Chess be one that we sometimes play? We can easily become so driven by our goals that people become just one more pawn that we use to achieve them. The Scriptures, however, call us to a different view of those around us. We are to see people as created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). They are objects of God’s love (John 3:16) and deserving of ours as well.
The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). Because God first loved us, we are to respond by loving Him and the people He created in His image.
Open my eyes, Lord, to people around me,
Help me to see them as You do above;
Give me the wisdom and strength to take action,
So others may see the depth of Your love. —Kurt DeHaan
People are to be loved, not used.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 05, 2014
“The Temple of the Holy Spirit”
…only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. —Genesis 41:40
I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not “set aside the grace of God”— make it ineffective (Galatians 2:21). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To “work out [my] own salvation” (Philippians 2:12) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . .” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the responsibility to rule over all “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” including our thoughts and desires (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves, while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them.
Paul said, “I beseech you…that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is “the temple of the Holy Spirit.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 05, 2014
A Christmas Survival Kit - #7280
The occasion was a citywide art contest. They had been told to paint paintings with the theme "Peace". Well, the judges were understandably attracted to this beautiful pastoral scene that a local artist had painted. It was a green pasture, puffy white clouds, a beautiful blue sky, a little boy going by with his fishing pole over his shoulder, and a quiet brook and some birds. That got second place.
First place? The picture was an angry, stormy day at the seashore as the ocean was beating against the cliffs. The cliffs were stark and dark because of the darkness of the storm. The sky was angry, and black and green and purple; all those ugly skies. You know? You had to look twice to figure out what in the world this had to do with peace. But as you looked halfway up the cliffs, these little baby birds were nestled underneath the wings of their mother. And they were sleeping, totally oblivious to the storm that was howling all around them.
Now, it's the Christmas season, and it's supposed to be about peace. But if you feel the pressures and the stresses like I do, it seems stressful, more like a storm. Which leads us to those birds.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Christmas Survival Kit."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Isaiah 30:15. "In quietness and trust is your strength." What a great verse for the chaos that the Christmas season has become. You're in the middle of it right now; shopping, entertaining, getting all the cards out, whatever you do. "Oh, did we forget to...?" "Oh, they sent us a card. We'd better send them one." Whatever. All of the church events that are going on; all of the school activities; maintaining all the family traditions that the kids insist on, or you do. The guests are coming; family time. They're flying in, they're driving in. Suddenly the Christmas season seems more like stress on earth than peace on earth.
Then God speaks, "In quietness and trust is your strength." If you're going to protect the heart of Christmas and not succumb to the hassle of Christmas, you must protect quiet thoughts at the beginning of each day, where quietness and trust will be your strength for that day.
Think about those birds in that painting. Peace wasn't the absence of the storm; it was peace right in the middle of the storm. They had found their quiet spot. Well, the secret is going to be the same for you. Not just at Christmas, but during all the stressful seasons of your life. The more hectic the season is, the harder it is to get your quiet time with the Lord and yet the more you need it.
It would be tragic if Jesus gets lost in the process of us getting ready to celebrate His birth. If anything, make your time with Jesus a top priority now more than ever. First of all, because Christmas becomes an idol if it crowds out Christ. Secondly, you need to be with Him to keep everything in proportion. Unload your concerns on Him. Focus on your relationship with Jesus. I mean, after all, what is it? It's a love relationship. Eliminate the overload. Ask the Lord if there are some things you can eliminate, and simplify as you ask for His wisdom.
What's your Christmas survival kit? Quietness and trust. That's your strength. It comes from a non-negotiable time spent with the Prince of Peace. Who, by the way, as we go through this season you may begin to realize, was for you a historical figure, a religious figure, a belief you have, but not with someone with whom you have this kind of love relationship. And that's what He came to give you. That's how there's peace in the chaos of earth. It's peace in your heart. It's peace with God that begins the day that you understand that He came here to die for the sinning you and I have done, and you put your life in His hands and get it out of yours.
If you've never done that, I would invite you to make this Christmas season, the season He came, the time He comes into your life by your invitation. Go to our website, and there you'll find exactly how to begin this relationship – ANewStory.com. He said, "My peace I give to you." Not peace that's the absence of the storm. You will have from now on, peace in the middle of your storm.
