Max Lucado Daily: YOU ARE HEADED HOME - April 3, 2025
God sought you. He searched you out. Before you knew you needed adopting, he’d already filed the papers. Listen to this passage from Romans 8:29 (NLT): “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” What’s more, he covered the adoption fees. “God sent him,” speaking of Christ, “to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (Galatians 4:5 NLT).
You see, the moment we accept his offer we go from orphans to heirs. Heirs with a new name, new home, new life. Heaven knows no stepchildren or grandchildren. You and Christ share the same will. What he inherits, you inherit. You are headed home.
Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name
Job 32
ELIHU SPEAKS
God’s Spirit Makes Wisdom Possible
1–5 32 Job’s three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn’t budge an inch—wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God’s. He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong. Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.
6–10 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said:
“I’m a young man,
and you are all old and experienced.
That’s why I kept quiet
and held back from joining the discussion.
I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell.
The longer you live, the wiser you become.’
But I see I was wrong—it’s God’s Spirit in a person,
the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible.
The experts have no corner on wisdom;
getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense.
So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well!
I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.
11–14 “I hung on your words while you spoke,
listened carefully to your arguments.
While you searched for the right words,
I was all ears.
And now what have you proved? Nothing.
Nothing you say has even touched Job.
And don’t excuse yourselves by saying, ‘We’ve done our best.
Now it’s up to God to talk sense into him.’
Job has yet to contend with me.
And rest assured, I won’t be using your arguments!
15–22 “Do you three have nothing else to say?
Of course you don’t! You’re total frauds!
Why should I wait any longer,
now that you’re stopped dead in your tracks?
I’m ready to speak my piece. That’s right!
It’s my turn—and it’s about time!
I’ve got a lot to say,
and I’m bursting to say it.
The pressure has built up, like lava beneath the earth.
I’m a volcano ready to blow.
I have to speak—I have no choice.
I have to say what’s on my heart,
And I’m going to say it straight—
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I was never any good at bootlicking;
my Maker would make short work of me if I started in now!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 03, 2025
by Karen Huang
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Exodus 15:22-27
Traveling Through the Wilderness
22–24 Moses led Israel from the Red Sea on to the Wilderness of Shur. They traveled for three days through the wilderness without finding any water. They got to Marah, but they couldn’t drink the water at Marah; it was bitter. That’s why they called the place Marah (Bitter). And the people complained to Moses, “So what are we supposed to drink?”
25 So Moses cried out in prayer to God. God pointed him to a stick of wood. Moses threw it into the water and the water turned sweet.
26 That’s the place where God set up rules and procedures; that’s where he started testing them.
God said, “If you listen, listen obediently to how God tells you to live in his presence, obeying his commandments and keeping all his laws, then I won’t strike you with all the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians; I am God your healer.”
27 They came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They set up camp there by the water.
Today's Insights
In the early phases of the exodus, God reintroduced Himself to His chosen people, who’d clearly drifted from Him after more than four hundred years in slavery in Egypt. In the miracle plagues, God had shown His superiority over the gods of Egypt, and at the Red Sea, He’d displayed His superiority over Pharaoh and his armies. Now, in the wilderness between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai, God showed His superiority over the harsh desert conditions by cleansing the bitter waters of Marah for the people. In the piece of wood mentioned in Exodus 15:25 (translated as “tree” or “log” in some versions), some see a picture of the cross, which can sweeten a bitter life. At Mount Sinai, God would continue revealing Himself to His grumbling people through signs, wonders, and the law, but His ultimate revelation would come many centuries later in Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-4).
Not Grumbling Against God
Moses cried out to the Lord. Exodus 15:25
As an answer to prayer, unexpected funds from Alex’s insurance had already paid for his dental treatment. Now, another treatment was necessary. Where will I get the money for that? Alex grumbled. Resentful thoughts of heavy expenses filled his mind.
At the time when a deposit to the dentist was due, however, a cash gift from a relative suddenly arrived. “I felt ashamed,” Alex said. “I’d already seen how God had provided for me with the insurance payment. I shouldn’t have grumbled but asked Him for help instead.”
When the Israelites entered the Desert of Shur, they’d just experienced God’s deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14). His miraculous help, however, now seemed forgotten as they grumbled over the absence of drinkable water in the desert (15:22-24). The Hebrew word for “grumbling” refers to rebellion against God. The resentful response of the Israelites was very different from Moses’, who asked God for help (v. 25). Later, God graciously provided water for His people (vv. 25-27).
In times of need, we can avoid grumbling by asking God for help as Moses did. Whether His help comes in miraculous ways, practical provision, people’s assistance, or the strength to endure, we can trust that He hears us and cares for us.
Reflect & Pray
In the past, what may have caused you to grumble in times of need? How can you remind yourself to always turn to God for help just as Moses did?
Faithful God, You’re my provider. Please help me to look to You in trust and to rely on You in times of need.
Find comfort and strength in this deep dive into Moses's struggles in Exodus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 03, 2025
If You’d Only Known
If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. — Luke 19:42
Jesus entered into Jerusalem in triumph, but a strange god was there: the pride of Pharisaism. The Pharisees were religious and proper, but Jesus saw straight through them: “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27).
What is it that blinds me in my day? Do I have a strange god—not a disgusting monster, but a mindset that rules and dominates me? More than once, the Lord has brought me face-to-face with this strange god, but instead of yielding to the Lord, I scraped through. Now I am still in the strange god’s possession, still blind to the thing that would bring me peace.
“If you, even you, had only known …” These words imply culpability; God holds us responsible for what we do not see. It is appalling that we can be in the place where the Spirit of God should be ruling us and still be increasing our condemnation in his sight.
“Now it is hidden from your eyes.” God goes directly to the heart, and the tears of Jesus follow. The terrible sadness of the might-have-been! God never reopens doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but he reminds us that there are doors we’ve shut that need never have been shut.
Never be afraid when God brings back the past. Let memory have its way. It is a minister of God, with its rebuke and sorrow. God will turn the might-have-been into something wonderful in the future.
Judges 19-21; Luke 7:31-50
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You, 1330 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 03, 2025
MORE LIKE JESUS? - #9974
Arnold Schwarzenegger - now, that's not exactly a stage name. But, boy, he became a star! And in case you haven't been around for a while, you know Arnold Schwarzenegger became one of Hollywood's hottest properties and then the Governor of California; the bodybuilder who became a movie star. In fact, I'm often mistaken for him on the street. Uh-huh. He's made the cover of magazines, and apparently when he's in a movie it has guaranteed a big draw at the gate.
Of course, he built his reputation first as a bodybuilder, he was Mr. Universe, or Mr. Milky Way or something. But he is impressively strong. He began lifting weight to train for the local soccer team back in his home country of Austria. And he got up early to lift in the morning, and then he'd race to the gym after school. His hero, he says, was a Mr. Universe who had starred in several Hercules movies. He said, "He was everything I wanted to be; a champion, a muscle film star, a great businessman. My parents," Arnold said, "thought it was strange. Most guys had posters of girls all over their walls; I had a guy flexing." Well, you know, that's an interesting insight into how we become a certain kind of person.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "More Like Jesus?"
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2, and I'll begin reading at verse 21. "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps. He committed no sin, no deceit was found in His mouth. When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats." This says here that we have an example, and it's the way that Christ lived His life. In fact, this word example, if you go back to the original Greek language of the New Testament, is the word "copy head." It literally was the copy head that they put at the top of a school child's slate. So when he's trying to learn the alphabet, he kept looking at how the letters should be formed until he made it just like it was on the copy head.
Now, Peter says Christ is our copy head. He's saying, "Keep looking at Jesus, and you'll start to respond as He did." Arnold Schwarzenegger said he became strong because he kept looking at a picture of a strong man; someone who was "everything he wanted to be." Well, I'll tell you this, "Jesus is everything I want to be." How about you? Everything he said was trusted, because there was no deceit in His mouth. There were no marks on His holiness. He acted in situations; He did not react. He suffered with grace that embarrassed those who caused the suffering.
How do you get to be like that? By daily looking at Him. Read the Gospels frequently in your personal quiet time, and compare your responses to your Lord's. Review your major life situations with Jesus daily and ask Him to help you see what He sees. Make your magnificent obsession this question, "What would Jesus do?" It often won't be what you feel like doing, or what our culture says to do, or what seems to be your right to do, but risk everything on doing what your Master, your model would do. It means you have to dedicate yourself to becoming an expert on Jesus. See, there's no lazy way to do this.
If you will daily, consciously, and stubbornly model yourself after Him, you'll start to make the kind of difference He made. Be sure Jesus is the picture that you just keep looking at.
