Max Lucado Daily: Works Matter
Works Matter
Posted: 17 Mar 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“If people say they have faith, but do nothing, their faith is worth nothing. Can faith like that save them?” James 2:14
James’ message is bare-knuckled; his style is bare-boned. Talk is cheap, he argues. Service is invaluable.
It’s not that works save the Christian, but that works mark the Christian. In James’ book of logic, it only makes sense that we who have been given much should give much. Not just with words. But with our lives.
Leviticus 16
The Day of Atonement
1 The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.
3 “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering[c] and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. 5 From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat.[d] 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.
11 “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 12 He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die. 14 He is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.
15 “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. 16 In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.
18 “Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. 19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
20 “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. 24 He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26 “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. 28 The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.
29 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves[e] and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. 31 It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.
34 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”
And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 37:8-11
Psalm 37:8-11 (New International Version, ©2011)
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.
Keep Me From Wrath
March 18, 2011 — by David H. Roper
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. —Psalm 37:8
I have a friend whose note cards are imprinted with a picture of Rodin’s The Thinker, the famous sculpture depicting a man in sober reflection. Below the picture is this inscription: “Life is not fair.”
Indeed, it is not. And any theory that insists that this life is fair is illusory and deceptive.
Despite the overwhelming unfairness of life, however, David in Psalm 37 prays that he will not retaliate but will instead rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him to bring justice to the earth in due time (v.7). “For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth” (v.9).
Our wrath tends to be vindictive and punitive. God’s wrath is untainted by self-interest and tempered by mercy. His wrath can even be His relentless love that brings our antagonists to repentance and faith. We must not then avenge ourselves, “for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord . . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:19,21).
This must begin in the heart, the wellspring from which the issues of our lives flow. May we cease from anger, forsake wrath, and wait patiently for the Lord.
Lord, help me not retaliate
When someone wants to pick a fight;
Instead, give me the strength and faith
To show Your love and do what’s right. —Sper
Revenge restrained is a victory gained.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 18th, 2011
Will I Bring Myself Up to This Level?
. . . perfecting holiness in the fear of God —2 Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises. . . .” I claim God’s promises for my life and look to their fulfillment, and rightly so, but that shows only the human perspective on them. God’s perspective is that through His promises I will come to recognize His claim of ownership on me. For example, do I realize that my “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,” or am I condoning some habit in my body which clearly could not withstand the light of God on it? (1 Corinthians 6:19). God formed His Son in me through sanctification, setting me apart from sin and making me holy in His sight (see Galatians 4:19). But I must begin to transform my natural life into spiritual life by obedience to Him. God instructs us even in the smallest details of life. And when He brings you conviction of sin, do not “confer with flesh and blood,” but cleanse yourself from it at once (Galatians 1:16). Keep yourself cleansed in your daily walk.
I must cleanse myself from all filthiness in my flesh and my spirit until both are in harmony with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I mentally rebellious and defiant? Am I allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in me? (see Philippians 2:5). Christ never spoke of His right to Himself, but always maintained an inner vigilance to submit His spirit continually to His Father. I also have the responsibility to keep my spirit in agreement with His Spirit. And when I do, Jesus gradually lifts me up to the level where He lived-a level of perfect submission to His Father’s will— where I pay no attention to anything else. Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God having His way with me, and are people beginning to see God in my life more and more?
Be serious in your commitment to God and gladly leave everything else alone. Literally put God first in your life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Greatest Miracle - #631
Friday, March 18, 2011
It's happy-time at the Hutchcrafts these days. Our newest grandson was just born - all ten pounds, ten ounces of him! That's a lot of boy! Just ask his mama! And even though he's not our first grandchild, there's still something breathtaking and amazing about the arrival of a new person in this world. I couldn't help but think of when his daddy was born. I was there in the delivery room when he arrived, and I will never forget what the doctor said. Now keep in mind, this is a doctor who's, well, seen thousands of deliveries over a long career. As I held my newborn son, the doctor said, "You know, this is the greatest miracle known to man." He got no argument from me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Greatest Miracle."
Out of all the ways Jesus could have explained how we can go to heaven someday, I'm glad that He chose to describe it as birth. Because that's one experience we all understand - we all have that in common. And having just been close to another arrival in our family, I'm impressed again with the parallel Jesus drew to what our doctor called "the greatest miracle known to man."
The birth route to heaven is described by Him in John 3 , beginning with verse 1 - it's our word for today from the Word of God. "A man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus; a member of the Jewish council, came to Jesus at night." Now, he came with spiritual questions and he was stunned when Jesus said, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. You must be born again."
Now, no modern preacher or religious leader came up with the idea of being "born again." It was Jesus Himself. And whatever being "born again' means, there's obviously no way you can go to heaven without it.
The first time you're born, you get like 70 years of life, let's say. The second time you're born, this time, spiritually - you get life forever. You've got no life on earth of course, unless and until you're born. You've got no life in heaven unless and until you're born...again.
There's no doubt about our new grandson's arrival - in fact, he'll be celebrating that day for the rest of his life. Being born again means that a person's relationship with God has a definite beginning. That beginning is described a couple of chapters earlier in the Bible: "To all who received Him (the Him is Jesus), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12 ). So the definite beginning of belonging to God is when a person "receives" Jesus, when they "believe" in Jesus.
That's because of what keeps each of us from having a relationship with God. In the blunt words of the Bible, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2 ). That's every time we've ever done something our way instead of God's way, and those are countless. It's the way we've basically said, "God, You run the universe; I'll run me." The eternal penalty for that is being separated from a holy God, now and forever. There's only one way that sin wall could be removed - in Jesus' words in the "born again" account, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." Jesus came to die for the sinning you and I have done.
So the day you reach out and take for yourself what Jesus died to give you, you're born...again. And this was originally said to one of the most religious men of Jesus' day. It's obvious that there's no one so good that they don't need to be born again. Because we all have the cancer of sin. And we'll die without the cure.
Which leads to the very personal question of whether or not there's been a time when you were born...again. If you don't know you were, you probably weren't. And you desperately need to be. This day can be your re-birthday - if you'll just open your heart to Jesus right where you are. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I've run my own life. I resign. I believe You died to pay for every wrong thing I've ever done. And beginning today, I'm Yours."
If you just prayed a prayer like that, or if you want to be sure you belong to Jesus Christ, I really want to encourage you to spend a few minutes at our website, YoursForLife.net. Let us know about your commitment to Christ so we can send you some things to encourage you; the "5 Secrets to a Great Relationship With God." But would you check it out there for yourself, YoursForLife.net.
Let today be the day when you personally experience what truly is "the greatest miracle known to man."
