Max Lucado Daily: He Knows What We Need
He Knows What We Need
“We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us.” Romans 8:26
You know, we really don’t know what to pray for, do we? What if God had answered every prayer that you ever prayed? Just think who you’d be married to. Just think where you’d be living. Just think what you’d be doing.
God loves us so much that sometimes he gives us what we need and not what we ask.
Leviticus 1
The Burnt Offering
1 The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.
3 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD. 4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. 5 You are to slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 9 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
10 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect. 11 You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. 12 You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 13 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
14 “‘If the offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He is to remove the crop and the feathers[a] and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. 17 He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 71:19-24
Psalm 71:19-24 (New International Version, ©2010)
19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
you who have done great things.
Who is like you, God?
20 Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once more.
22 I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you—
I whom you have delivered.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.
Perfect Peace And Rest
February 25, 2011 — by David H. Roper
You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again. —Psalm 71:20
The psalmist had seen “great and severe troubles” (Ps. 71:20). Yet hovering in the back of his mind was the thought that God would “revive” him again. The literal meaning of this phrase is “bring him to life again.” He elaborated: “[You shall] bring me up again from the depths of the earth [the grave]. You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side” (vv.20-21). If the troubles didn’t end in this life, certainly in heaven they would.
This thought—that someday we shall be in God’s presence and enjoy Him forever—crowns many of the psalms and is an assurance that helps life’s present troubles fade away (see Ps. 16,17,49,73).
Perhaps no one but God knows the trouble you’ve seen, but this is not all that shall be. Someday, your Father will “increase [your] greatness”—you will be clothed with unspeakable glory. There will be comfort “on every side.” His presence and love will bring perfect peace and rest.
Richard Baxter writes, “O what a blessed day that will be when I shall . . . stand on the shore and look back on the raging seas I have safely passed; when I shall review my pains and sorrows, my fears and tears, and possess the glory which was the end of all!”
When all my labors and trials are o’er,
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore
Will through the ages be glory for me. —Gabriel
When God wipes our tears, sorrow will give way to eternal song.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 25th, 2011
The Destitution of Service
. . . though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved —2 Corinthians 12:15
Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, “It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor . . .” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.
The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out-socialized” the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Where's the Beef? - #6295
Friday, February 25, 2011
It would have to be near the top of the list of one of the most memorable commercials of all times. It actually goes back to the 1980s. Anybody who was around then remembers the commercial. See, there are men who sit in ad offices all day long, struggling to come up with that million dollar slogan that will impress the nation. Well, there was one that was on everyone's lips back then...three haunting words: Where's the beef?
There was this outspoken little old lady who walked into a hamburger restaurant and she wasn't impressed by the surroundings; she wasn't impressed by the name of the hamburger. She wasn't impressed by the size of the bun. She got right down to the real issue when it comes to choosing a hamburger and to a lot of other choices too.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about (yeah, you guessed it) "Where's the Beef?"
Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from John chapter 9. I'm going to be reading from verses 24 and 25. Jesus has just healed the man who was blind from birth. The Pharisees and the Jewish leaders don't like it, because it happened on the Sabbath Day. They're asking questions about the Sabbath. They have totally missed the point that a blind man is suddenly able to see again, and they're hassling him. We pick up the story, "A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. 'Give glory to God,' they said, 'We know this man is a sinner.' He replied, 'Whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!'"
You know, we all have a lot to learn from this man's very simple testimony. See, he refused to get trapped into discussing theology or some deep analysis. He wouldn't get into any religious arguments. It was a simple word: "All I know is I was blind and now I see."
People really aren't interested in asking you what you believe. They want to ask you, "What's the difference Jesus makes?" Or, "Where's the beef?" "What really happened here to you?"
See, someone can give you a great pitch about, let's say, their weight loss plan. But you don't want to hear the details of the weight loss plan. You want to say, "Well, what difference did it make? That's what I need to know."
Maybe you've gotten off in a detour in your sincere desire to share Christ with people close to you. See, it's easy to go from communicating the difference Christ is making and wander into religious arguments with people, or words that only church people understand, or theology, or Adam and Eve, or what certain entertainments are sinful, trying to clean people up on the outside before they know Christ on the inside - none of which will attract people to your Jesus.
What will? "I was, but now I am." What difference is Jesus making in how you cope with stress, with depression? What difference is Jesus making in how you handle financial pressure, how you set your sexual standards? What difference is Jesus making in the unemployment line, in your relationship with your parents, when the money's run out, in your marriage, your relationship with your kids? How about in your bitterness, your temper, your tendency to worry?
If you have a Christ who just makes rules, or even just makes sense, that probably won't be enough to attract the people you care about. People will notice a Christ who makes a difference. Well, is He? There are a lot of hungry people out there asking, "Where's the beef?" They want a life-changer.
Show them a life-changing Jesus.