Max Lucado Daily: Slow Down
Slow Down
“Man . . . heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.” Psalm 39:6, NIV
We need one day in which work comes to a screeching halt. We need one twenty-four hour period in which the wheels stop grinding and the motor stops turning. We need to stop . . .
Slow down. If God commanded it, you need it. If Jesus modeled it, you need it . . . Take a day to say no to work and yes to worship.
Exodus 37
The Ark
1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. 2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. 3 He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 4 Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 5 And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it.
6 He made the atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 7 Then he made two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 8 He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover. 9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover.
The Table
10 They made the table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. 11 Then they overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it. 12 They also made around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. 13 They cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners, where the four legs were. 14 The rings were put close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 15 The poles for carrying the table were made of acacia wood and were overlaid with gold. 16 And they made from pure gold the articles for the table—its plates and dishes and bowls and its pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings.
The Lampstand
17 They made the lampstand of pure gold. They hammered out its base and shaft, and made its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 18 Six branches extended from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 21 One bud was under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 22 The buds and the branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.
23 They made its seven lamps, as well as its wick trimmers and trays, of pure gold. 24 They made the lampstand and all its accessories from one talent of pure gold.
The Altar of Incense
25 They made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it. 26 They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. 27 They made two gold rings below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. 28 They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
29 They also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense—the work of a perfumer.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 3:1-12
Matthew 3:1-12 (NIV)1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" 4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Change
February 17, 2011 — by Marvin Williams
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! . . . Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. —Matthew 3:2,8
Medical studies have shown that even though people who have had heart-bypass surgery are told that they must change their lifestyle or die, about 90 percent do not change. Typically, 2 years after surgery the patients haven’t altered their lifestyle. It seems that most would rather die than change.
Just as doctors preach a physical message of change to prevent death, John the Baptist came preaching a spiritual message of change. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:2). He was preparing the way for the ultimate manifestation of God’s reign—the Messiah, Jesus.
Repentance means to change one’s mind and attitude about God, which ultimately changes a person’s actions and decisions. Those who repent and accept Christ’s provision of forgiveness from their sins through His death on the cross will escape spiritual death (John 3:16). Repentance involves confessing sin with godly sorrow, and then forsaking sin. John the Baptist was calling people to turn from one way of living to ways that honor God.
Today, the Lord is still calling us to repent and then to respond with the “fruits worthy of repentance” (Matt. 3:8).
Repentance is to leave the sin
That we had loved before,
And showing we are grieved by it
By doing it no more. —Anon.
Repentance means hating sin enough to turn from it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 17th, 2011
Taking the Initiative Against Depression
Arise and eat—1 Kings 19:5
The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive—only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Play-Doh People - #6289
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Well, it was a great milestone when all our kids got to be teenagers, and I didn't have to buy any more Play-Doh for a while. Oh, I've bought my share, and now it's for grandchildren. You know, when I did buy it for my kids, I found it in the strangest places. Oh, it's a good toy. In case you missed the thrill, you might not know this, but Play-Doh is this multi-colored, soft little clay that comes in these little cans. And it's a lot of fun if you're a kid; even if you're an adult I suppose. But my kids liked it because they could mold that Play-Doh in any shape they wanted. They could buy different shaped molds, and have Play-Doh animals, and Play-Doh cars, and Play-Doh tools. It's fun to be the Play-Doh shaper! It's not fun to be the Play-Doh.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Play-Doh People."
Our word for today from the Word of God, it's in 1 Samuel chapter 8, and I'll begin reading from verse 4. "All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel. They said to him, 'You are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now, appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have.'" Up until this point, they have had a God-appointed judge as the king of Israel. So, in a sense, this was God ruling them through a theocracy. It was a God government.
But now in verse 19 it says the people refused to listen to Samuel when he tried to talk them out of it. "No, they said, we want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us." You notice the key phrase here that they keep repeating? "We want to be like all the others. We want to do it like all the others do it." Now, that is Play-Doh people. Yeah, people who are shaped by the people around them; not by the God they belong to.
You may remember the warning of Romans 12:2 when it says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world." The Phillips translation says, "Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold." And the last part of the verse talks about approving what God's good, and pleasing, and perfect will is." In a sense it seems to say that, "Listen to what everyone around you is saying is a great detour from God's best for your life."
Well, not much has changed. We still kind of look around for our standards rather than looking up. What music shall I listen to? Oh, music like all the others. How should I dress? Oh, like everybody else is. What should I expect in a house, a car, a standard of living? Well, pretty much like all the other people. Where should I draw the moral line of my business practices or in my dating relationship? Well, pretty much like all the others do it. How should I handle my marital struggles? Well, a lot of other people at this point are getting a divorce. All the others are.
You see, God's people got into big trouble when they went after what their society said was normal. The kings caused more problems for them from that point on. Well, God's people still get in trouble that way. The Lord didn't have a place to lay His head. So we have to have the best of everything? The Lord says He hates divorce. Can we consider it because our society or even the church has opened the door? Our Lord says to only let pure things into our minds. So, shall we listen to something just because everybody else is?
Oh, it's easy to be seduced by a world where sin is what's normal. Don't let the world squeeze you. Decide that you will be shaped by Jesus. And then become the mold who shapes other people. Play-Doh people are forever changing shape.