Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
January 18
This is the victory that conquers the world--our faith.
1 John 5:4 (NCV)
What is unique about the kingdom of God is that you are assured of victory. You have won!
If you have no faith in the future, then you have no power in the present. If you have no faith in the life beyond this life, then your present life is going to be powerless.
But if you believe in the future and are assured of victory, then there should be a dance in your step and a smile on your face.
1 Chronicles 17
God's Promise to David
1 After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent."
2 Nathan replied to David, "Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you."
3 That night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:
4 "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. 5 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. 6 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders [j] whom I commanded to shepherd my people, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" '
7 "Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men of the earth. 9 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 10 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.
" 'I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: 11 When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. 14 I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.' "
15 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.
David's Prayer
16 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:
"Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 17 And as if this were not enough in your sight, O God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men, O LORD God.
18 "What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, 19 O LORD. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made known all these great promises.
20 "There is no one like you, O LORD, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. 21 And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? 22 You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, O LORD, have become their God.
23 "And now, LORD, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, 24 so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, 'The LORD Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel's God!' And the house of your servant David will be established before you.
25 "You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you. 26 O LORD, you are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O LORD, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 139:7-16 (New International Version)
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
January 18, 2009
Wonderfully Made
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READ: Psalm 139:7-16
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. —Psalm 139:14
A quote in George MacDonald’s book David Elginbrod speaks to those who wonder, at times, why God has made them the way they are—and who wish they were someone else.
Lady Emily muses: “I wish I were you, Margaret.”
Margaret answers: “If I were you, my lady, I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of. For to have been thought about—born in God’s thoughts—and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, most precious thing in all thinking.”
MacDonald may have had Psalm 139:17 in mind: “How precious . . . are Your thoughts to me, O God!” In this psalm, David is thinking about his conception, and vividly describes God’s thoughts as He wove him together in his mother’s womb, creating a unique and special individual to be the object of His love.
It’s a comforting thought to know that we’re not a terrible mistake, but a very special creation, “born in God’s thoughts.” David could stand before a mirror and say in all honesty and humility: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works” (v.14).
You are a designer original! As such, you are dear, grand, and precious to God. — David H. Roper
Of all creation’s treasures rare,
Not one compares in worth with man;
In God’s own image he was made
To fill a place in His great plan. —D. De Haan
You are one of a kind—designed to glorify God as only you can.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 18, 2009
"It Is the Lord!"
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READ:
Thomas answered and said to Him, ’My Lord and my God!’ —John 20:28
Jesus said to her, ’Give Me a drink’ " (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. "You shall be witnesses to Me . . ." (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us.
Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?