Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
March 6
Our High Priest
Our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses. When he lived on earth, he was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin.
Hebrews 4:15 (NCV)
Read how J.B. Phillips translates Hebrews 4:15:
For we have no superhuman High Priest to whom our weaknesses are
unintelligible--he himself has shared fully in all our experience of
temptation, except that he never sinned.
It's as if he knows that we will say to God...: "God, it's easy for you up there. You don't know how hard it is from down here." So he boldly proclaims Jesus' ability to understand. Look at the wording again.
He himself. Not an angel. Not an ambassador. Not an emissary, but Jesus himself.
Shared fully. Not partially. Not nearly. Not to a large degree. Entirely! Jesus shared fully.
In all our experience. Every hurt. Each ache. All the stresses and all the strains. No exceptions. No substitutes. Why? So he could sympathize with our weaknesses.
2 Chronicles 16
Asa's Last Years
1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2 Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD's temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 3 "Let there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me."
4 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim [d] and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: "Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites [e] and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen [f] ? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war."
10 Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.
11 The events of Asa's reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. 13 Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers. 14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 11:24-40 (New International Version)
24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea[a] as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[b]
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[c]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
March 6, 2009
You Are Not Forgotten
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Hebrews 11:24-40
God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints. —Hebrews 6:10
When Britain’s oldest man turned 111, vintage aircraft did a flyover, and the Band of the Royal Marines played “Happy Birthday.” According to the Daily Mirror, Henry Allingham was amazed by all of the attention. Until 6 years earlier, he had for 86 years kept secret the horrific memories of what happened in the trenches of World War I. Only when tracked down by the World War I Veteran’s Association did this old man, who had been shelled, bombed, and shot, receive honor for what he had endured in behalf of his country.
The story of the Bible gives us parallels to Henry’s story. The Scriptures show that those who fight the battles of God often end up wounded, imprisoned, and even killed as a result of their service.
The cynic might observe such lives and conclude with a sigh that no good deed goes unpunished. But the author of Hebrews sees a bigger picture. He reminds us that everything and anything we have done in faith and love will one day be honored by God (6:10).
Are you discouraged today? Do you feel insignificant? Do you feel forgotten after trying to serve God? Be assured that God will not forget anything you have done in your service to Him or others. — Mart De Haan
Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem so small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He’ll not forget His own. —Suffield
God remembers the good we forget.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 6, 2009
Taking the Next Step
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses —2 Corinthians 6:4
When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ inJohn 13:1-17 .
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Secret Of Staying Healthy - #5780
Friday, March 6, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Recently we had a wave of nasty infections going through our area and, of course, through our team. Thank the Lord, I have not been one who got knocked out for a week or more by this bug. And I am very grateful for all the people who pray for me. That has got to be one of the big reason why I'm still going strong. Of course, I try to do what I can to stay healthy. I've concluded that one of the biggest things you can do to keep from getting sick is just to wash your hands frequently. (Now I sound like your Mother, right?) But I do. Wherever I travel, I take my trusty towelettes and my liquid disinfectant. We're picking up germs that could infect us all day long! It's a good idea to wash your hands regularly.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Secret Of Staying Healthy."
The fact is, we live in a world where we're surrounded by plenty of spiritual germs, as well. And the secret of spiritual health is the same as physical health - frequent washing. Not hand-washing, but heart-washing!
Our word for today from the Word of God explains the importance of our staying spiritually uncontaminated. And it may be a reminder to some of us that we've become dangerously careless about staying clean. In 2 Corinthians 6, beginning in verse 16, Paul reminds us that "we are the temple of the living God. As God has said, 'I will be their God, and they will be My people'...'Therefore, come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. 'Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty."
What an awesome position you have if you belong to Jesus Christ! God lives in you. You are "His people"; you're a prince or princess, a son or daughter of the King! So live like it! And 2 Corinthians 7:1 tells you how you do that. "Since we have these promises, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." Keep washing your heart, keep washing your mind, from anything that could contaminate you. You are His temple, remember!
So we need to stop regularly and wash away any contaminating attitude or conversation or thought or action that we've picked up. If you tell anything less than the truth, correct it immediately before it becomes an entrenched infection. If you speak a harsh word, make it right immediately; don't let it fester in your heart or their heart. If you allow a lustful thought to take over the stage in your mind, don't dwell on it; confess it and replace it right away with thoughts about Jesus. If you find yourself thinking proudly about something you've done, get rid of it quickly and give all the glory to the God who gave you everything you have and everything you are. If you're watching or listening to something that's displeasing to God, turn it off right away.
The alternative is spiritual infection. It's carelessness about staying clean that can cost you your physical health and, yes, your spiritual health. And we get careless when we forget who we are - God's temple, God's people, God's son or daughter. He says, "Don't touch any unclean thing." Remember who you are.
Life is so much more enjoyable when you're healthy. And you're likely to stay spiritually healthy a lot more if you practice frequent heart-washing. Or, as the Bible says, "purifying yourself from everything that contaminates."
