Max Lucado Daily: You Need A Savior
You Need A Savior
Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“If the Son makes you free, you will be truly free.” John 8:36
Trying to make it to heaven on our own goodness is like trying to get to the moon on a moon beam; nice idea, but try it and see what happens.
Listen. Quit trying to quench your own guilt. You can’t do it. There’s no way.
Not with a bottle of whiskey or perfect Sunday school attendance. Sorry. I don’t care how bad you are. You can’t be bad enough to forget it. And I don’t care how good you are. You can’t be good enough to overcome it.
Leviticus 27
Redeeming What Is the LORD’s
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the LORD by giving the equivalent value, 3 set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels[c] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel[d]; 4 for a female, set her value at thirty shekels[e]; 5 for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels[f] and of a female at ten shekels[g]; 6 for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels[h] of silver and that of a female at three shekels[i] of silver; 7 for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels[j] and of a female at ten shekels. 8 If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.
9 “‘If what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the LORD, such an animal given to the LORD becomes holy. 10 They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if they should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute become holy. 11 If what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the LORD—the animal must be presented to the priest, 12 who will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, that is what it will be. 13 If the owner wishes to redeem the animal, a fifth must be added to its value.
14 “‘If anyone dedicates their house as something holy to the LORD, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain. 15 If the one who dedicates their house wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs.
16 “‘If anyone dedicates to the LORD part of their family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver to a homer[k] of barley seed. 17 If they dedicate a field during the Year of Jubilee, the value that has been set remains. 18 But if they dedicate a field after the Jubilee, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain until the next Year of Jubilee, and its set value will be reduced. 19 If the one who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become theirs. 20 If, however, they do not redeem the field, or if they have sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed. 21 When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it will become priestly property.
22 “‘If anyone dedicates to the LORD a field they have bought, which is not part of their family land, 23 the priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the owner must pay its value on that day as something holy to the LORD. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought, the one whose land it was. 25 Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26 “‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the LORD; whether an ox[l] or a sheep, it is the LORD’s. 27 If it is one of the unclean animals, it may be bought back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If it is not redeemed, it is to be sold at its set value.
28 “‘But nothing that a person owns and devotes[m] to the LORD—whether a human being or an animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
29 “‘No person devoted to destruction[n] may be ransomed; they are to be put to death.
30 “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. 31 Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the LORD. 33 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’”
34 These are the commands the LORD gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 2:1-7
The Appeal Renewed
1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
An Attached Fuel Hose
April 4, 2011 — by C. P. Hia
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life. —2 Timothy 2:4
Felipe Massa of Brazil should have won the Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore in September 2008. But as he drove off from a refueling stop while in the lead, the fuel hose was still attached. By the time his team removed the hose, he had lost so much time that he finished 13th.
The apostle Paul warned Timothy of another kind of attachment that would cause him defeat—“the affairs of this life” (2 Tim. 2:4). He urged Timothy not to let anything slow him down or distract him from the cause of his Lord and Master.
There are many attractive things in our world that are so easy to get entangled with—hobbies, sports, TV, computer games. These may start off as “refueling” activities, but later they can take up so much of our time and thought that they interfere with the purpose for which God created us: to share the good news of Christ, serve Him with our gifts, and bring glory to Him.
Paul told Timothy why he ought not be entangled with this world’s affairs: So that he could “please Him” (v.4). If your desire is to please the Lord Jesus, you will want to stay untangled from the world. As John reminds us, “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
For Further Study
If you have questions about your life’s purpose in this
world, read online Why In The World Am I Here?
at www.discoveryseries.org/q0502
Although we live in this world,
we must declare our allegiance to heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 4th, 2011
The Way to Permanent Faith
Indeed the hour is coming . . . that you will be scattered . . . —John 16:32
Jesus was not rebuking the disciples in this passage. Their faith was real, but it was disordered and unfocused, and was not at work in the important realities of life. The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and they had interests apart from Jesus Christ. After we have the perfect relationship with God, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of everyday life. We will be scattered, not into service but into the emptiness of our lives where we will see ruin and barrenness, to know what internal death to God’s blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is certainly not of our own choosing, but God engineers our circumstances to take us there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is sustained only by feelings and by blessings. But once we get there, no matter where God may place us or what inner emptiness we experience, we can praise God that all is well. That is what is meant by faith being exercised in the realities of life.
“. . . you . . . will leave Me alone.” Have we been scattered and have we left Jesus alone by not seeing His providential care for us? Do we not see God at work in our circumstances? Dark times are allowed and come to us through the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do what He wants with us? Are we prepared to be separated from the outward, evident blessings of God? Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve. Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. The sense of God’s blessings is fundamental
“. . . be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Unyielding spiritual fortitude is what we need.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Daddy's Smile - #6321
Monday, April 4, 2011
I remember my son's first football game in high school. He was all decked out in his football armor and looking appropriately intimidating like you're supposed to look. And he came on the field with the rest of the team, but as macho as he was (or was trying to be), as soon as he came out he just glanced up at the stands, and I knew why. He wanted to be sure his Father was there watching him.
And there weren't too many there, but I was able to make it that day. And when that happened, I was reminded of another day when he was much younger. We were out working in the yard together on a very hot day. And he was clipping and I was mowing, and I kind of just flashed a smile in his direction. A few minutes later, he came up, yelled over the lawn mower and said, "Daddy, please do that again." I said, "Do what again?" He said, "The smile. It's your smile that keeps me going, Dad." Well, actually, you and I are a lot like that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Daddy's Smile."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy chapter 28, and God is actually giving the Jewish nation instructions as they're about to enter the Promised Land. And listen to what He says about how their life is going to go and what it depends on. I'll be reading from verse 1 to start with, "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commandments I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on the earth." All right, that sounds good. Now, listen to verse 15, "However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all His commands, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you."
Now, you can see here that everything that matters in life depends totally on the blessing of God, or I guess we could call it the smile of God. Is God smiling when He looks at the way you're living? You see, His blessing depends on obediently carrying out that part of my life as the Bible says to. Now, this passage shows that in many areas. It talks, for example, about their enemies. It says, "The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction, but they will flee from you in seven." That's if you're obeying Him. If you don't, here's what it says, "The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies." He says that "you'll leave as seven, though you came as one." Same army - opposite result.
Listen to what it says about financial stability. If you're obeying the Lord; if He blesses you, you will lend to many nations, but will borrow from none." And later on in the chapter it says, "The alien in your land will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head; you will be the tail." It goes on to talk about how your daily work will go; the kind of results you're going to get from your work. And in each case, these people put in the same effort, but they get opposite results. And the determining factor is the smile of God. Not the effort, but the blessing; the difference between fruit and frustration.
Now, maybe there's an area of your life right now that's particularly frustrating, and you've tried everything. You've worked harder, you've planned, you've used every trick you know. Could it be you're missing God's blessing on it? Is there in that part of your life something He can't bless: an attitude, a secret sin, a relationship, a method you are using to go about getting it, an untruth maybe? So often the answer to frustration is not greater effort, it's greater obedience.
Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision, said, "Lord, we ask not that You bless what we do, but that we do what You bless." You see, after all is said and done, all that really matters; all that keeps us going is Daddy's smile.
