Max Lucado Daily: Using the Common
Using the Common
Posted: 17 Apr 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“When Moses reached out and took hold of the snake, it again became a stick in his hand.” Exodus 4:4
Just as Moses’ hand touched the squirmy scales of the snake, it hardened. And Moses lifted up the rod . . . The same rod he would lift up to divide the water and guide two million people through a desert. The rod that would remind Moses that if God can make a stick become a snake, then become a stick again—then perhaps he can do something with stubborn hearts and a stiff-necked people.
Numbers 9
The Passover
1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they came out of Egypt. He said, 2 “Have the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. 3 Celebrate it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with all its rules and regulations.”
4 So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, 5 and they did so in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD commanded Moses.
6 But some of them could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were ceremonially unclean on account of a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same day 7 and said to Moses, “We have become unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be kept from presenting the LORD’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?”
8 Moses answered them, “Wait until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you.”
9 Then the LORD said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites: ‘When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they are still to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, 11 but they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations. 13 But if anyone who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, they must be cut off from their people for not presenting the LORD’s offering at the appointed time. They will bear the consequences of their sin.
14 “‘A foreigner residing among you is also to celebrate the LORD’s Passover in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for both the foreigner and the native-born.’”
The Cloud Above the Tabernacle
15 On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. 16 That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. 18 At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the LORD’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. 22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. 23 At the LORD’s command they encamped, and at the LORD’s command they set out. They obeyed the LORD’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 67
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—[b]
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
The Purpose Of God’s Goodness
April 18, 2011 — by Joe Stowell
God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. —Psalm 67:1
When I was growing up, we often sang a song in Sunday school that went like this: “God is good to me! God is good to me! He holds my hand and helps me stand! God is good to me!”
I need to say right away that I believe God is good and He takes delight in doing good things for people. He does indeed hold our hand in times of trouble and helps us stand against the onslaught of life’s difficulties. But I wonder if you’ve ever asked yourself, Why is He good? It certainly is not because we deserve it or because He feels the need to buy our love and allegiance with His benefits.
The psalmist prays for God to bless him so that “[the Lord’s] way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations” (Ps. 67:2). God’s daily blessings are proof positive that He is indeed a good God who cares for His own. But how will our world know this about God if we never praise Him for His goodness to us? (v.3).
So, the next time God blesses you, be sure to look for ways to appropriately give Him the credit. Consuming His blessings without communicating His goodness shortchanges the very purpose of His gifts of grace in our lives.
As endless as God’s blessings are,
So should my praises be
For all His daily goodnesses
That flow unceasingly! —Adams
God is good—make sure the people in your world know what He has done in your life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 18th, 2011
Readiness
God called to him . . . . And he said, ’Here I am’ —Exodus 3:4
When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.
Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Whiplash World - #6331
Monday, April 18, 2011
For some reason, this drunk driver decided that he liked my side of the road better than his side. He suddenly crossed the center line and he plowed headlong into our car. Well, I had the whole family with me, and our car was totaled. But thankfully, none of us was totaled. Our injuries were miraculously minor in light of what happened to our car. Now, a friend offered to drive me to the youth retreat where I was speaking that weekend. Well, that night of the accident, the doctor put me in a neck brace for a few days, so I got a lot of sympathy at that retreat! I almost decided to wear it permanently! But I had a little whiplash, actually, from the force of the hit that we took. That's the damage to your neck when you get whipped around violently and suddenly.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Whiplash World."
Now, these days, you can get whiplash just watching the evening news. Events are exploding across the country, around the world. Most recently, we've seen upheaval and change in the Middle East - most of it without warning; some uprisings in places we thought we'd never see them.
And we might as well fasten our seat belts for a crazy ride ahead; this isn't going to change. A couple of years ago, America's financial world was rocked to its core. We've had two radical swings of the political pendulum in just two years. There are well-armed nations that seem beyond any restraint from the rest of the world - dangerous wild cards in our world.
But I'm OK, no matter what bombshell flashes on the "breaking news" today or any day. Here's the big picture behind whatever disturbing news - personal news, world news - that explodes today: "The nations are in chaos," the Bible says, "and their kingdoms crumble! God's voice thunders, and the earth melts! The Lord of Heaven's Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress" That's our word for today from the New Living Bible, Psalm 46 , verses 6 and 7.
You know, for thousands of years, the prophecies of the Bible have predicted a world like ours. Just before the King of all kings returns to take charge. Here's the words of Jesus: "There will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again" (Matthew 24:21 ). "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...Nations will be in anguish and perplexity...Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming in the world..." (Luke 21:10 , 25-26).
Now, that's the bad news. You ready for some good news? Well, it's great news! Listen, here's what Jesus said right after that, "At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27 ). Jesus said when you see a whiplash world and everything is going crazy, He said it's into that kind of world I am going to return. I will come back; I will take charge; I will keep My promises. Wow!
I'll tell you, any time's a good time to belong to Jesus. But this time is a really good time to belong to Him. Because behind all the exploding events of our time, there is a plan. There is a God; there is a Savior; there is a King. There is a divinely orchestrated, humanly untouchable countdown to the coming of King Jesus.
I guess the question is has there ever been a day when He's come into your life and into your heart, because that's where the anchor is for times like ours. If you never have, this might be the day for you to say, "Jesus, I want to be sure I belong to You; I'm anchored to You. I believe that some of those sins You died for on that cross were sins I have done - the wrong things I have done. And today I accept the forgiveness that You bought on the cross for me. Beginning today I'm Yours."
I hope you'll go to our website today. And if you're at this point of saying, "I really need to get this settled. I need something solid to hang onto in this kind of a world. Things have been happening so fast." Well, you can go to our website. It's YoursForLife.net, and I've laid out there as simply as I can how you can be sure you belong to Him.
The bottom line in the Bible is this: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe" (Proverbs 18:10 ). I'm there, and I pray you are.
