Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 31
God’s Good Gifts
Every good action and every perfect gift is from God.
James 1:17 (NCV)
Ever feel like you have nothing? Just look at the gifts [God] has given you:
He has sent his angels to care for you, his Holy Spirit to dwell in you, his
church to encourage you, and his word to guide you....
Anytime you speak, he listens; make a request and he responds.
He will never let you be tempted too much or stumble too far.
Let a tear appear on your cheek, and he is there to wipe it.
Let a love sonnet appear on your lips, and he is there to hear it.
As much as you want to see him, he wants to see you more....
You have been chosen by Christ.... He has claimed you as his beloved.
Genesis 22
Abraham Tested
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring [b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Nahor's Sons
20 Some time later Abraham was told, "Milcah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel." 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 6
Love the LORD Your God
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
October 31, 2008
Who Is Your God?
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READ: Deuteronomy 6:1-6
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. —Deuteronomy 6:5
At a funeral, I once overheard someone say of the deceased, “He was close to his god. He’s safe now.”
At times like that, I wish it were true that everyone could have their own god, live in whatever way they wanted, and also be assured of eternal life in heaven. Then we wouldn’t have to think too seriously about death. We wouldn’t have to be concerned about where our unbelieving loved ones went when they died.
But the Scriptures say that there is only one true God. “The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” (Deut. 6:4). And He is holy (Lev. 19:2). He says that we don’t measure up to His standard for a relationship with Him. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Our sin has alienated us from Him.
In love, the heavenly Father provided the way to Himself through His perfect Son Jesus who died to pay the penalty for our sin. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). But we need to humble our hearts and receive His gift of forgiveness.
There is only one true God. He is holy and has provided the only way of eternal life through Jesus. Is He the God you are trusting in? Think about it—seriously. — Anne Cetas
FOR FURTHER STUDY
How do I know what is true about God and salvation? Is sincerity enough? Read Do I Have The Right Kind Of Faith? at www.discoveryseries.org/q0603
To get into heaven, it’s who you know that counts.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 31, 2008
The Trial of Faith
If you have faith as a mustard seed . . . nothing will be impossible for you —Matthew 17:20
We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to "walk by faith" ( 2 Corinthians 5:7 ). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.
Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, "I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do." The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" ( Job 13:15 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Ultimate Security - #5690 - October 31, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Friday, October 31, 2008
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A local businessman was in to share with our Ministry Team a while back, and he made a fascinating observation about his family. He's got three children; two are all grown up and in their late 20s. His youngest is just a nine year old girl. He assured us that she wasn't a "mistake." In fact, she was their choice. And he pointed out something the authorities made very clear at the time the adoption went through. There could come a time when he had a major falling out with one of his natural-born children - a time when he could conceivably, as a father, disown that child; even put him out of the will. But not so with this girl he was adopting. He was legally committed to never disown her, to never put her out of his will, and to always take care of her. They said, in essence, "When you adopt a child, she is your child forever."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Ultimate Security."
For my businessman friend, that experience with adoption opened up a whole new world in terms of his personal relationship with God. It could be the same for you. Because adoption plays a central part in whether or not you actually belong to God, whether or not you go to heaven when you die.
In our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord pulls back the curtain of eternity to let us see this panoramic view of how God has planned and provided for you joining His family. Ephesians 1:4 says this: "In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons (or His children) through Jesus Christ...In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." God has had His eye on you before there was a world! And He made a plan to adopt you into His family so you could be with Him forever.
There are few more comforting and more peace-giving words in the English language than this one - secure. But security may be something you've never had much of in your life. You've experienced a lot of conditional love, performance love, but not much love that would be there no matter how unlovable you are. Maybe there have been people or positions or things that were your security blanket but they're gone, and with them, that sense of being safe. If you've been disappointed in relationships, if you've been hurt a lot, or if you're tired of losing what you were hanging onto, then you're ready to be adopted by God.
Remember what the authorities told my friend, "When you adopt a child, she is yours forever." That's the kind of unshakable, unlosable security God is offering you. Adoptions can be expensive. For God to adopt you, the price was unthinkable - the sacrifice of His one and only Son on the cross. Because there's no way you could be a daughter or son in God's family with all the wrong things you've done. After all, God the Father is perfect. But, as the verse says, God offers forgiveness of sins through the blood Jesus shed on the cross. Your sin was paid for so your sin could be forgiven. And God stands ready to make you His child.
But only if you want Him to. Only if you'll pin all your hopes on Jesus and what He did on the cross for you. At the moment you give yourself to Jesus, you are adopted into God's family, and you finally belong. You're finally secure.
If you're ready to join God's family, would you tell Jesus that? And then, I hope you'll go to our website where you'll find a lot of valuable, practical information on how to be sure you belong to Jesus Christ. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there at your first convenience today. Or you can call and get for no charge my booklet Yours For Life just by calling 877-741-1200.
Your lifelong search for a love you could never lose can end this very day. God has paid the price to adopt you. His arms are open wide. It's time for you to run into your Father's waiting arms. Once you do, He'll never let you go.