Max Lucado Daily: Put on Christ
Scripture often describes our behavior as the clothes we wear. In 1 Peter 5:5, Peter urges us to be "clothed with humility." David speaks of evil people who clothe themselves "with cursing." Garments can symbolize character, and like His garment, Jesus' character was seamless. The character of Jesus was a seamless fabric woven from heaven to earth-from God's thoughts to Jesus' actions. From God's tears to Jesus' compassion. From God's word to Jesus' response. All one piece. A picture of the character of Jesus.
But when Christ was nailed to the cross, He took off His robe of seamless perfection and assumed a different wardrobe. He wore our sin so we could wear His righteousness.
From He Chose the Nail
Psalm 56
A David Psalm, When He Was Captured by the Philistines in Gath
1–4 56 Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around,
stomped on every day.
Not a day goes by
but somebody beats me up;
They make it their duty
to beat me up.
When I get really afraid
I come to you in trust.
I’m proud to praise God;
fearless now, I trust in God.
What can mere mortals do?
5–6 They don’t let up—
they smear my reputation
and huddle to plot my collapse.
They gang up,
sneak together through the alleys
To take me by surprise,
wait their chance to get me.
7 Pay them back in evil!
Get angry, God!
Down with these people!
8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
each ache written in your book.
9 If my enemies run away,
turn tail when I yell at them,
Then I’ll know
that God is on my side.
10–11 I’m proud to praise God,
proud to praise God.
Fearless now, I trust in God;
what can mere mortals do to me?
12–13 God, you did everything you promised,
and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, April 11, 2026
by Adam R. Holz
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Psalm 63
A David Psalm, When He Was out in the Judean Wilderness
1 63 God—you’re my God!
I can’t get enough of you!
I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God,
traveling across dry and weary deserts.
2–4 So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open,
drinking in your strength and glory.
In your generous love I am really living at last!
My lips brim praises like fountains.
I bless you every time I take a breath;
My arms wave like banners of praise to you.
5–8 I eat my fill of prime rib and gravy;
I smack my lips. It’s time to shout praises!
If I’m sleepless at midnight,
I spend the hours in grateful reflection.
Because you’ve always stood up for me,
I’m free to run and play.
I hold on to you for dear life,
and you hold me steady as a post.
9–11 Those who are out to get me are marked for doom,
marked for death, bound for hell.
They’ll die violent deaths;
jackals will tear them limb from limb.
But the king is glad in God;
his true friends spread the joy,
While small-minded gossips
are gagged for good.
Today's Insights
The header for Psalm 63 identifies the author and the situation that inspired the song: “A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.” There’s good reason to believe that it was written when he fled from his son Absalom, who sought to overthrow him as king over Israel (2 Samuel 15-19). In a time of personal and national stress, David poetically and intensely expressed his dependence upon God. Uncomfortable physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual conditions have a way of showing us our dependence on God. Today, weary, wandering people can go to the psalmist’s “wilderness prayer room” for language that helps to give expression to our prayers of dependence. In times of desperation, we can say, “I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you . . . . I cling to you” (Psalm 63:1, 8). When we confess our sins, we see that God alone brings satisfaction to our own wilderness.
Learn more about A Portrait of Dependence.
A Portrait of Dependence
I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8
As I write these words, our Lhasa Apso dog, Winston, lies curled up at my feet. He’d watched me move from where I had been—the chair next to him—to the dining room table. That extra ten feet had been too far away from me.
I’ve been traveling for work a lot lately, and I think it’s getting to him. If I even hint that I’m leaving, or use the word “go,” he’s right on top of me. Practically clinging to me.
In human relationships, someone being “clingy” isn’t normally a compliment. But I see in my dog’s clinginess a vivid portrait of trusting dependence—one that’s mirrored in Psalm 63.
Here, David paints a picture of loving dependence upon God: “You, God, are my God,” he begins in verse 1. “Earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you.” In verse 3, he adds, “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” Near the end, we read, “I cling to you; your right hand upholds me” (v. 8).
Like David—and maybe even a bit like my dog depends on me—I want to depend on God with my whole being, earnestly seeking Him. Sometimes, I do. Other times, my heart may be cooler, less trusting. But when I repent of my fickle mistrust and return to Him, I remember that He alone fills me. He alone is the one who will leave me “fully satisfied as with the richest of foods” (v. 5).
Reflect & Pray
What helps you experience God’s character as a loving Father most fully? How does trusting Him help us depend on Him?
Dear Father, thank You for Your lavish love. Please help me depend upon You in all that I do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Moral Divinity
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. — Romans 6:5
The proof that I have been through crucifixion with Jesus is that I resemble him in both attitude and behavior. Through his resurrection, Jesus has the authority to impart the life of God to me, and my outward life must be built on this basis. I can receive the resurrection life of Jesus Christ here and now, and it will show itself outwardly in holiness.
Romans 6:5 presents an idea that runs throughout the apostle Paul’s writings: after I’ve made the moral decision to be identified with Jesus in his death, the resurrection life of Jesus fills every aspect of my human nature. Once I’ve decided my old self—the self defined by the heredity of sin—will be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me and takes charge of everything. The Spirit isn’t a mere guest in the house; he fills every nook and cranny. My responsibility is to walk in the light and to obey everything he reveals to me.
When I’ve made the moral decision about sin, it is easy to conclude that, yes, I really am dead to sin, because wherever I look inside myself I find the life of Jesus there. Just as there is only one stamp of humanity, there is only one stamp of holiness: the holiness of Jesus Christ. God puts the holiness of his Son into me, and I belong to a new order of spirituality.
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 17-18; Luke 11:1-28
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own.
Biblical Ethics, 99 R
