Max Lucado Daily: Be Merciful
Be Merciful
Posted: 06 Feb 2011 10:01 PM PST
“Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” Matthew 18:21 The Message
The Jewish law stipulated that the wounded forgive three times. Peter is willing to double that and throw in one more for good measure. No doubt he thinks Jesus will be impressed. Jesus isn’t. The Master’s answer still stuns us. “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy time seven.” (Matthew 18:22 The Message).
If you’re pausing to multiply seventy times seven, you’re missing the point. Keeping tabs on your mercy, Jesus is saying, is not being merciful.
Exodus 30
The Altar of Incense
1 “Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense. 2 It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it. 3 Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. 4 Make two gold rings for the altar below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. 5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 Put the altar in front of the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law—before the atonement cover that is over the tablets of the covenant law—where I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. 8 He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come. 9 Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it. 10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD.”
Atonement Money
11 Then the LORD said to Moses, 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. 13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD. 14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD. 15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives. 16 Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives.”
Basin for Washing
17 Then the LORD said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. 20 Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the LORD, 21 they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”
Anointing Oil
22 Then the LORD said to Moses, 23 “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus, 24 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. 26 Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law, 27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.
30 “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. 32 Do not pour it on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. 33 Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from their people.’”
Incense
34 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, 35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. 36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. 38 Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from their people.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Kings 6:8-17
2 Kings 6:8-17 (NIV)2Ki 8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, "I will set up my camp in such and such a place." 9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there." 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. 11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, "Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?" 12 "None of us, my lord the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom." 13 "Go, find out where he is," the king ordered, "so I can send men and capture him." The report came back: "He is in Dothan." 14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. 16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
The Armies Of God
February 7, 2011 — by David H. Roper
He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. —Psalm 91:11
When our granddaughter Julia was very small, we took her on a driving trip over an Idaho mountain road. Afterward, she and her Nana were having a conversation about the “adventure.” “I don’t worry because I think Papa has a guardian angel,” Nana said. “I think he must have a team of guardian angels!” Julia replied.
The mission of angels is to protect and serve the children of God (Heb. 1:13-14). The psalmist said, “The chariots of God are . . . thousands of thousands; the Lord is among them” (Ps. 68:17). God is the “Lord of hosts,” which means “armies.” The angels are the Lord’s army.
In 2 Kings we read about Elisha and his servant who were surrounded by the Syrian army. Elisha’s servant cried out, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” Elisha replied, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw that “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around” (6:15-17). The Lord’s army was at hand!
Even though we cannot see them with our natural eyes, we can rest in the confidence that the Lord of Hosts is constantly watching over us and He has an invisible army at His bidding to send where He pleases.
What ready help the Father gives
To struggling saints below!
He sends His heavenly ministers
To thwart our ancient foe. —D. De Haan
The angels of God protect the people of God
as they do the work of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 7th, 2011
Spiritual Dejection
We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened —Luke 24:21
Every fact that the disciples stated was right, but the conclusions they drew from those facts were wrong. Anything that has even a hint of dejection spiritually is always wrong. If I am depressed or burdened, I am to blame, not God or anyone else. Dejection stems from one of two sources— I have either satisfied a lust or I have not had it satisfied. In either case, dejection is the result. Lust means “I must have it at once.” Spiritual lust causes me to demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Himself who gives the answer. What have I been hoping or trusting God would do? Is today “the third day” and He has still not done what I expected? Am I therefore justified in being dejected and in blaming God? Whenever we insist that God should give us an answer to prayer we are off track. The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer. It is impossible to be well physically and to be dejected, because dejection is a sign of sickness. This is also true spiritually. Dejection spiritually is wrong, and we are always to blame for it.
We look for visions from heaven and for earth-shaking events to see God’s power. Even the fact that we are dejected is proof that we do this. Yet we never realize that all the time God is at work in our everyday events and in the people around us. If we will only obey, and do the task that He has placed closest to us, we will see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we realize the magnificent deity of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Too Good To Keep - #6281
Monday, February 7, 2011
She's only four years old, and, uh, she wasn't supposed to tell. I was talking to one of my good friends on the phone. His little girl hears me on the radio, so she said, "Daddy, can I talk to him?" So we had a great conversation on the phone. For once I didn't get to say much. And believe it or not, she got on the phone and it was non-stop four-year-old girl talk. And in the course of telling me all about her family, she just blurted out, "And mommy has a baby in her tummy." Well, my friend came back to the phone rather sheepishly and said, "Ron, that's really not public news yet. We just found out! Grandma and grandpa don't even know. It wouldn't be good if you knew before they do. She wasn't supposed to tell that." I said, "Well, listen; I don't even know what she said. I just forgot it. But I'll really be happy when you tell me the news. Does that work?" So, actually, I think that little girl is great. She just can't sit on good news.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Too Good To Keep."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Kings chapter 7. It comes out of the time of Elisha when the capital city of Samaria is surrounded by the Aramean troops. And in chapter 7, verse 3, we find out that there are some men who really had nothing to eat, even more so than the people in the city, who had been besieged by this enemy army. These guys were desperate for food. They were starving to death. Day after day in the city, outside the walls, more and more people are dying of starvation.
And it says here, "Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, 'Why stay here until we die?" And they decide to surrender to the enemy army. And they say, "If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, we die." "We're going to die either way, so we might as well give it a chance." Well, verse 8 says, "The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents." And now what they don't know is this. God has performed a miracle and scattered this army, and they have left all their tents and their provisions. So it says, "They ate and drank and carried away silver and gold and clothes and went off and hid them. And they returned and entered another tent. Took some things from it and hid them. Then they said to each other, 'We are not doing right. This is the day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this.'"
You get the message here? These people - these lepers - are saying, "We've got all this food. We're stuffed! We can't sit on this kind of good news." Sounds like a little four-year-old girl we just talked about doesn't it? We can't sit on the good news. People are starving to death in our city. What a picture of American Christianity! We are spiritually the richest Christians in history. We've got more books, and concerts, and seminars, and tapes, and radio, and websites, and TV. But like the four lepers, we're stuffed.
Now, Jesus taught us in Luke 12:48 , "To whom much is given, much is required." That's us. It's easy to be, as the late singer Keith Green said, "Asleep in the light"...going to the meetings, holding offices, quoting verses, reading all the Christian best sellers, but having no meaningful impact on the people who are spiritually dying.
Here's my question, "When was the last time that you personally shared what Christ did on the cross with someone who does not know Him?" When was the last time you played a part in changing someone's eternity from hell to heaven? Maybe when you first became a Christian you did. Could it be you've just settled into the comfort zone now? You may be very busy...very busy in Christian work, but you're sitting on the Good News. You're enjoying the fellowship, but you're not accepting the responsibility.
A little girl with a brother or sister on the way has a lot to teach us. She knows some news is too good to keep. And you have the only news that can change where people will spend their forever. Isn't that news too good to keep?