Max Lucado Daily: A New Name
“I will also give to each one who wins the victory a white stone with a new name written on it.” Revelation 2:17
You may not have known it, but God has a new name for you. When you get home, he won’t call you Alice or Bob or Juan or Geraldo. The name you’ve always heard won’t be the one he uses. When God says he will make all things new, he means it. You will have a new home, a new body, a new life, and you guessed it, a new name.
Exodus 21
1 “These are the laws you are to set before them:
Hebrew Servants
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.
Personal Injuries
12 “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. 13 However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. 14 But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.
15 “Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death.
16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.
17 “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.
18 “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, 19 the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.
20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.
28 “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. 30 However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.
33 “If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.
35 “If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Revelation 21:1-4
Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)Rev 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
No More Struggles
January 25, 2011 — by Marvin Williams
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. —Revelation 21:4
Fay Weldon went through what she thought was a near-death experience in 2006 when an allergic reaction stopped her heart. She retold her experience to Elizabeth Grice of the London Daily Telegraph. She said that a “terrible creature” tried to pull her through pearly gates, while doctors tried to pull her back. Later, she said, “If that was dying, I don’t want to do it again.” It’s “just more of the same. More struggle.”
Often the process of dying is a struggle. But death itself need not be feared by the believer in Christ—for it will bring us to heaven. In Revelation, John gives a wonderful description of what eternity with God will be like (21:1-4). He sees the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. The city of Jerusalem was a physical sign of the people of God and was described as the place where God dwells (Ps. 76:2). The New Jerusalem, on the other hand, will not be made by human hands. It will be a place where God lives with His people eternally, and it will be a place of “no more”—no more pain, sorrow, and sickness.
We don’t know very much about eternity, but we do know that for the Christian, whatever our emotional and physical struggles are now, they will cease then. Life with God will be better by far.
Think of a land of no sorrow,
Think of a land of no fears,
Think of no death and no sickness,
Think of a land of no tears. —Anon.
Heaven’s delights will far outweigh earth’s difficulties.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 25th, 2011
Leave Room for God
When it pleased God . . . —Galatians Galatians
As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him-to give God “elbow room.” We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, but we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we be surprised if God came into our meeting or into our preaching in a way we had never expected Him to come? Do not look for God to come in a particular way, but do look for Him. The way to make room for Him is to expect Him to come, but not in a certain way. No matter how well we may know God, the great lesson to learn is that He may break in at any minute. We tend to overlook this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. Suddenly— God meets our life “. . . when it pleased God . . . .”
Keep your life so constantly in touch with God that His surprising power can break through at any point. Live in a constant state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come in as He decides.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Catching Beats Dodging - #6272
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
When we finally graduate from childhood to grownuphood, we trade in some simple games for some complicated games. You know, once you get bigger, you have to learn all the rules of football, and baseball, and basketball. And they can get pretty complicated. But I remember some of those uncomplicated games I played with I was little, like dive bomber. Yeah, simple rules. All you had to do was come in with your arm extended and knock the hat off the other guys head. That was pretty simple rules. Oh yeah, and try not to knock off the head with the hat. And then we played keep away. That was pretty simple. Keep throwing the ball back and forth and keep it away from the guy in the middle. That was easy. And dodge ball, Did you ever play dodge ball? You know, we'd play dodge ball when a bunch of us guys would get together and we had a good sized ball. And the object of the game was very simple. When another guy tried to throw that ball at you, you just tried to dodge it. In fact, we boys got pretty good at dodging. In fact, some of us still are.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Catching Beats Dodging."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 3 , and I'm going to be reading from verses 7-10. It really introduces us to an interesting and often frustrating trait in a man, especially if you happen to be a woman. It's a trait that goes way back, all the way back. Listen to this scene from the Garden of Eden, "Then the eyes of both Adam and Eve were opened and they realized they were naked. So, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?' He answered, 'I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.'"
Now, it's interesting. When God came to talk after that first sin, Adam grabbed Eve's hand and ran and hid. Did you know Adam is still running from substantial conversation...from confrontation. He's even running from talking with Eve. You see it when it comes to conversations about feelings, about personal and inner personal problems, or conflicts. See, man is the great postponer. You know, a wife says, "Honey, we need to talk." So the husband turns out the light and says, "Later, Baby." A child is showing signs of needing some guidance or correction, and Dad will put off confronting that as long as possible - sometimes until there's a heart-wrenching crisis.
Men tend to avoid areas where they aren't sure of their competence. So, you know, we'll talk about activities, and achievements, and work, and sports, and politics. But many of us men are unsure of ourselves when it comes to deeply personal areas. So, we play dodge ball when it comes to talking about personal problems. And those things just keep growing until they explode.
As a man, I must with God's help, resist this urge to run...to postpone...to live with the word "later" when it comes to significant conversation. So many human tragedies could have been averted if only a man hadn't put off dealing with problems and not let the sun go down on it. If we're going to be the leaders God has commanded us to be, guys, we've got to turn and face the issues. Discuss our deep feelings and solve problems while they're small enough to solve.
It's far more manly to catch what's thrown at you than to dodge it.
