Max Lucado Daily: I’ll Give You Eternity
I’ll Give You Eternity
Posted: 23 May 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:22
Even if you’ve fallen, even if you’ve failed, even if everyone else has rejected you, Christ will not turn away from you. He came first and foremost to those who have no hope. He goes to those no one else would go to and says, “I’ll give you eternity.”
Numbers 36
Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters
1 The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite families. 2 They said, “When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. 4 When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our ancestors.”
5 Then at the LORD’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. 6 This is what the LORD commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. 7 No inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. 8 Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. 9 No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”
10 So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the LORD commanded Moses. 11 Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah—married their cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s tribe and clan.
13 These are the commands and regulations the LORD gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 6:25-34
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Simplify
May 24, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. —Matthew 6:34
In a radio interview, a basketball superstar was asked about his knack for making the game-winning shot in crucial situations. The reporter asked how he was able to be so calm in such pressure-packed moments. His answer was that he tried to simplify the situation. “You only have to make one shot,” the player replied. One shot. That is the essence of simplifying a difficult situation. Focus only on what is in front of you right now. Don’t worry about the expectations of your coach or teammates. Simplify.
Recognizing that the challenges of life can be both overwhelming and suffocating, Jesus urged us to take matters in hand by simplifying. He said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34). This was His wise conclusion to His teaching on the debilitating power of worry. Worry doesn’t accomplish anything positive; it just adds to the sense that we are drowning in the troubles we are facing. We must take things as they come—one day at a time—and trust Him for the wisdom to respond properly.
If you feel overwhelmed by life, do what you can today and then entrust the rest to Him. As Jesus said, “Each day has enough trouble of its own” (NIV).
Don’t worry for your future needs,
It will only bring you sorrow;
But give them to the Lord instead—
He’ll take care of your tomorrow. —Sper
We lose the joy of living in the present
when we worry about the future.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 24th, 2011
The Delight of Despair
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead —Revelation 1:17
It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.
“He laid His right hand on me . . .” (Revelation 1:17). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?
Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells . . .” (Romans 7:18). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Young Love, Young Letdown - #6357
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
On our list of holidays that we all celebrate each year, I have a sneaking suspicion there might be one of them at least that was invented possibly by greeting card companies and florists. It's called Valentine's Day! Man, the valentines are flying. Of course our grandchildren when it was Valentine's Day...they were doing their part at school. Florists freak out and then they count their shekels the next day. And, of course, I even did my part by helping some struggling greeting card company. I had to; of course, get one for the woman I love.
And I get to celebrate on that day a lifetime love that God's given me in my amazing wife. But occasionally Valentine's Day gives me a flashback of a not-so-happy romantic memory; back in the day when I was 13 and sure that I was in love. Right!
Let's call this junior high heartthrob "Cindy." I remember combing the stores on our little town's main street for the perfect gift for Cindy - something to let her know I had feelings for her. Well, I bought the nicest necklace that a few weeks' allowance could afford - a heart-shaped necklace, of course. I wrapped it in this mushy note I'd written, put it in an envelope and then I left it on her desk in study hall.
The next day she passed by my desk and, as my heart beat loud enough to dance to, she silently left an envelope on my desk. There was a brief moment of excited anticipation, followed by one massive letdown. It was the envelope I'd given her...with my note and my necklace inside. Yeah, I was crushed. She had rejected the love gift I'd spent everything on.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Young Love, Young Letdown."
You know, God knows how that feels. He has spent everything on His love gift for you, for me. In the Bible's words, "He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all...God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (Romans 8:32; John 3:16). You understand how deeply personal that love is when you put your name in what God said there. So for me it goes, "God so loved Ron..." (and you put your name in there). "God so loved _____ that He gave His one and only Son that if ____ will believe in Him, then ____ (there's your name again), will not perish but have eternal life."
God knows the feeling of pouring out His love for us and having us just handed back to Him. "Thanks, God, but no thanks. I'm not interested or I'm not ready." It's not a necklace we're rejecting. It's what the Bible calls "the gift of God (which) is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). In short, we're rejecting heaven. Because there's no way to get there except to have every wrong thing we've ever done forgiven. And that took Jesus doing the dying for the sinning we've done. Look what He spent on the gift!
Now, for too many, Valentine's Day and anniversaries are just reminders of how disappointing human love has been. Even a great love fails to fill that gaping hole in our heart. It's just too big for any human to fill. The hole in our heart has Jesus' name on it. In the Bible's words we "were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). And only He has the un-loseable love that will anchor us and complete us.
It must hurt God a lot to have spent so much and have us care so little. But He's a stubborn lover. He's back again today; He's offering His love to someone who's listening right now.
Respond to His love. Accept the gift that He died to give you. Open your heart and tell Him where you are today, "Dear Jesus, thank you for the price you paid for my sin. Today I give me to You." And I want to encourage you to go to our website if you're at a point of wanting to be sure you belong to Him - YoursForLife.net. You'll find so much help and encouragement there.
This could be the day that you find the Love that you've been looking for all your life!