Max Lucado Daily: The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep . . . and my sheep know me.” John 10:14-15
You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm.
You have everything you need.
Numbers 12
Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses
1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the LORD heard this.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:
“When there is a prophet among you,
I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”
9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous[a]—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “Please, God, heal her!”
14 The LORD replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 2:10-18
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.[a] 12 He says,
“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the assembly I will sing your praises.”[b]
13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”[c]
And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”[d]
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,[e] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Sin Hurts
April 22, 2011 — by Julie Ackerman Link
He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many. —Isaiah 53:12
Sooner or later we all feel the painful effects of sin. Sometimes it’s the weight of our own sin and the shame and embarrassment of having failed miserably. At other times, it’s the load of someone else’s sin that weighs us down—someone who betrayed, deceived, abandoned, ridiculed, cheated, or made a fool of us.
Think about a time when the weight of that guilt or pain was so heavy that you couldn’t pull yourself out of bed. Now try to imagine the heaviness of the combined grief that everyone’s sin has caused your family, your church, your neighborhood. Add to that all the suffering sin has caused everyone in your city, state, nation, and the world. Now try to imagine the accumulated grief that sin has caused throughout the centuries since creation.
Is it any wonder that the weight of all this sin began squeezing the life out of Jesus on the night He was called to bear it? (Matt. 26:36-44). The next day, even His beloved Father would forsake Him. No other suffering can compare.
Sin put Jesus to the ultimate test. But His love endured it, His strength bore it, and His power overcame it. Thanks to Jesus’ death and resurrection, we know beyond a doubt that sin will not and cannot win.
Is God aloof from human pain
That ravages our mortal frame?
Oh, no, Christ felt our agony
When sin and death He overcame! —D. De Haan
Christ’s empty tomb guarantees our victory over sin and death.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 22nd , 2011
The Light That Never Fails
We all, with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord . . . —2 Corinthians 3:18
A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “. . . no one stood with me, but all forsook me . . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me . . .” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.
Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “. . . Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).
We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Hesitating on the Tightrope - #6335
Friday, April 22, 2011
Wallenda. That's a name that is synonymous with tightrope artistry, high wire drama. The Great Wallendas! The patriarch of the Wallenda clan was Karl Wallenda, and at the age of 73 he was still doing tightrope work. He went to South America several years ago and strung a tight rope between two 20-story buildings. For him that was not an unusual feat, but tragically that day Karl Wallenda fell to his death.
Some months later, some of his family were asked, "Why do you think after all these years he fell?" And someone said, "You know, two weeks before his fall, we heard him talk about falling for the first time ever. He had never mentioned falling before." He never had, and he probably never would have fallen if he had not become un-nerved by the fear of falling. Now, maybe you're doing quite a balancing act right now yourself, and you're hesitating because you're afraid you might not make it safely the rest of the way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about "Hesitating on the Tightrope."
You know, the word tightrope may be for you today a good word. You say, "Ron, that pretty well describes were I'm at. I'm balancing things financially right now, barely. I guess I'm on a financial tightrope." Or maybe you've got such a volume of responsibilities you feel like you're a high wire artist. Maybe you're working at the very limit of your strength, your ability, your wisdom.
Well, so was Abraham. And he had been given, as you remember, a son that he'd been promised for years. He was told that this great nation would come through this son, Isaac. And then God in a test of his faith that grew into a new level of relationship with the Lord, asked him to sacrifice his own son; to take him to the top of the mountain and give up what was most precious to him. Didn't seem to make much sense, and yet we find Abraham and Isaac marching right up the mountain as Abraham obeys God instinctively.
And it says here that early the next morning after he talked with God, without hesitation, he got up and sat on his donkey and started up. Now in verse 4 it says, "On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servant, 'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.' Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son, Isaac. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to Abraham, 'Father?' 'Yes, my son' Abraham replied. 'The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.' And the two of them went on together."
That "God will provide" - that's the name of God we know today as Jehovah Jireh. There was a moment of hesitation here on the road of obedience. Maybe there is on yours. But it was Jehovah Jireh - the Lord will provide - that settled it. OK, so you're looking at the circumstances right now - the checkbook balance; the reactions you're getting or might get. Your own roller coaster feelings, and you're saying, "Shall I keep going?" Well, Abraham said, "Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. He always has."
Jacob said later, "The God who has fed me every day of my life will support me." Look, God has never missed a day in your life, right? Sometimes all we have to help us go the rest of the way is the assurance that God will provide, and He will.
Maybe you can't see the ram that God has ready. But God will provide. What you need to finish your faith walk will be there when you need it. You have His word on it. So keep walking, and don't even think about falling.