Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
August 14
Preparing the Heart
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12
Confession does for the soul what preparing the land does for the field. Before the farmer sows the seed he works the acreage, removing the rocks and pulling the stumps. He knows that seed grows better if the land is prepared. Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. "There is a rock of greed over here Father, I can't budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence? Its roots are long and deep. And may I show you some dry soil, too crusty for seed?" God's seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleared.
And so the Father and the Son walk the field together; digging and pulling, preparing the heart for fruit. Confession invites the Father to work the soil of the soul.
Philemon 1
1Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, 2to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
4I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
Paul's Plea for Onesimus
8Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10I appeal to you for my son Onesimus,[a] who became my son while I was in chains. 11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
12I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. 15Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— 16no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.
17So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
22And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.
25The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Joshua 7
Achan's Sin
1 But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things [a] ; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, [b] the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD's anger burned against Israel.
Joshua 7:19-26
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD, [a] the God of Israel, and give him the praise. [b] Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me."
20 Achan replied, "It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, [c] two hundred shekels [d] of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, [e] I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the LORD.
24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today."
Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor [f] ever since.
August 14, 2009
The Deadliest Disease
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READ: Joshua 7:1,19-26
[Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions, . . . and by His stripes we are healed. —Isaiah 53:5
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was identified in 2003 in Vietnam. By the time it was brought under control, SARS had spread globally and killed nearly 800 people. One reason for the high mortality rate was that the virus was not recognized initially. But once recognized and understood, SARS was contained.
An even more dangerous disease is on the loose in our world—sin. It too is difficult to bring under control because many people do not recognize its deadliness. And many dispute the Bible’s diagnosis of sin.
In Joshua 7, we read the tragic story of Achan. We may recoil at the extreme way God dealt with him. Against God’s command, he had taken some of the spoils from Jericho and hid them in his tent (v.21). He and his entire family paid with their lives (v.25).
Thankfully, God does not deal with us in that way. If He did, none of us would remain alive. Yet we must never underestimate sin’s deadliness. It sent Christ to the cross for us.
Like SARS, the first step to deal with sin is to recognize it for what it is. Receive with gratitude the gift of eternal life. Then “put to death your members which are on the earth”—the selfish things that displease God (Col. 3:5). That’s the way to deal with our deadliest disease. — C. P. Hia
The Remedy for Sin
Have you received Christ’s gift of salvation? He died for your sins and rose from the dead. He offers forgiveness to all who believe in Him (Rom. 10:9).
Sin is a heart disease that can be cured only by the Great Physician.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 14, 2009
"The Discipline of the Lord"
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READ:
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him —Hebrews 12:5
It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say mistakenly, "Oh, that must be from the devil."
"Do not quench the Spirit" ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19 ), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, "Don’t be blind on this point anymore— you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I’m revealing it to you right now." When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God.
". . . nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him." We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, "Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything." Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!
Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me— sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Trouble with the Top of the Mountain - #5895
Friday, August 14, 2009
I was reminiscing with our son about some of the great experiences we had together as a family when he and his siblings were kids. I was thinking especially of the hikes we took up mountains, through forests, and along the seashore. To which my son added, with a little whimsy in his voice, "And sand dunes?" That's kind of a sore point in our family memories. It's all about the time I led our family on an exhausting hike up a massive Cape Cod sand dune, promising them, based on what I had been told, a beautiful view of the ocean when we reached the top. Well, there was a view of another sand dune, which we climbed, as well. And there it was finally, another sand dune! The next dune was like that, too, and the next one. This was not one of my better ideas.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Trouble with the Top of the Mountain."
I made a simple mistake the day of the dunes. I kept thinking that what I was looking for was just over the next hill. It wasn't. That's a mistake a lot of us have made with our life. We've kept climbing a mountain that we were sure would bring us what we were looking for once we got to the top. But so far, it never has. You've got to wonder if one day, when you climb that final hill called death, if you'll still be looking, still without any real peace, any real fulfillment.
Maybe you've gotten to the top of some of the mountains you thought would bring you happiness. You got your man. You got your woman. You got that job. You got a decent income. You got the house, the position, the promotion, the award. You got your dream. But now, looking out from the top of your mountain, the view isn't just what you hoped it would be. You're feeling as empty inside at the top as you did at the bottom.
Our word for today from the Word of God reveals the reason behind our lifetime search and our lifetime disappointment. It spells out the reason for our lives in these simple words from Colossians 1:16. Speaking of Jesus, it says, "All things were created by Him and for Him." That's it. That's why you were created; you were created by Jesus, you were created for Jesus, so nothing is going to fill that hole in your heart until you have Jesus. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah says that until we get rid of the wall between us and our Creator, we are like "the tossing sea, which cannot rest." God describes the turbulent condition of our hearts very pointedly in four words, "There is no peace..." (Isaiah 57:20-21).
The Bible says we've all pretty much pushed God to the edges of our life. We've declared ourselves in charge of a life that He was supposed to run. We're restless and we're searching because we're away from the One we were made for, and that is why Jesus came to die on a cross to absorb the eternal death penalty for every sin we've ever done. So to find forgiveness, to find peace, to find the only love that can truly satisfy your heart, you have to climb one more hill. It's that hill where Jesus died for you. You go there in your heart and you open up to the One who gave His life for you, and who rose again so He could give you life forever.
If you've never really given yourself to this Jesus, you could do that today. You could tell Him right now, "Jesus, You run my life from now on. It was supposed to be run by You all the along, but I've been running it. I've done it my way. And I turn from that now, and I accept the payment You made - the death penalty you took for me when you died on the cross. Beginning right now, I'm Yours."
He is what you've been trying to find all these years, and you can belong to Him this very day. If that's what you want, let me encourage you to go over to our website today and find there some information that will help you be sure you belong to Jesus Christ. The website is YoursForLife.net.
Could it be that God brought you here to hear His voice and to have this opportunity to finally experience a personal relationship with Him? You've been searching long enough. It's time to finally be home.