Max Lucado Daily: He Made His Point
He Made His Point
Posted: 14 Jun 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.” John 15:15
We learn brevity from Jesus. His greatest sermon can be read in eight minutes (Matthew 5-7). . .He summarized prayer in five phrases (Matthew 6:9-13). He silenced accusers with one challenge (John 8:7). He rescued a soul with one sentence (Luke 23:43). He summarized the Law in three verses (Mark 12:29-31), and he reduced all his teaching to one command (John 15:12).
He made his point and went home.
Deuteronomy 17
1 Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.
2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the LORD gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God in violation of his covenant, 3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
Law Courts
8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the LORD your God will choose. 9 Go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. 11 Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left. 12 Anyone who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the LORD your God is to be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel. 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.
The King
14 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” 15 be sure to appoint over you a king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 55:6-13
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”
Do I Have To Read Leviticus?
June 15, 2011 — by Randy Kilgore
My Word . . . shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please. —Isaiah 55:11
Do I really have to read Leviticus?” A young executive asked me this in earnest as we talked about the value of spending time in reading the Bible. “The Old Testament seems so boring and difficult,” he said.
Many Christians feel this way. The answer, of course, is that the Old Testament, including Leviticus, offers background and even contrasts essential to grasping the New Testament. While Isaiah challenges us to seek God (55:6), he also promises us that God’s Word accomplishes what the Lord wants it to accomplish (v.11). Scripture is alive and powerful (Heb. 4:12), and it is useful to teach, correct, and instruct us (2 Tim. 3:16). God’s Word never returns void (Isa. 55:8-11), but sometimes it is not until later that God’s words come to mind as we need them.
The Holy Spirit uses the truths we’ve stored from reading or memorization, and He helps us to apply them at just the right time. For example, Leviticus 19:10-11 speaks of business competition and even caring for the poor. The Spirit can remind us of these concepts, and we can use them, if we’ve spent time reading and contemplating that passage.
Reading the Bible turns our minds into storehouses through which the Spirit can work. That’s a great reason to read Leviticus and the other 65 books as well.
Lord, I want to learn to love Your Word more and more.
Teach me and help me to hide it in my heart
so that I can live it, be encouraged by it, and
help others to know it too. Amen.
To understand the Word of God, rely on the Spirit of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 15th, 2011
Get Moving! (2)
Also . . . add to your faith . . . —2 Peter 1:5
In the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become “partakers of the divine nature” and that we should now be “giving all diligence,” concentrating on forming godly habits (2 Peter 1:4-5). We are to “add” to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits— we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace. Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do. Yet, “Jesus . . . took a towel and . . . began to wash the disciples’ feet . . .” (John 13:3-5).
We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration which come from Him. Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.
It is difficult for us to do the “adding” that Peter mentioned here. We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and yet we act as if we do! I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I will do my duty, not for duty’s sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wearing the Colors, Win or Lose - #6373
One Sunday afternoon, my son and I were chasing a Giants football game wherever we went. When we were near the TV at home, of course, we were glued to that. And then we were in the car, and so we'd listen on the radio. And when we got to a place where one of us had to go in, only one of us went in so the other one could stay in the car and could get an update. Yeah, a little fanatic! And then the one who went in got back as soon as he could.
You can see why the word fan is short for fanatic, right? We were in bad shape! But, you know, it was a decisive game and the outcome was up for grabs. When the Giants took the lead, my son said, "Dad, I'm wearing my Giants sweater to school tomorrow." I said, "Good. What if they lose?" He paused for a moment and then he very proudly said, "Either way." I respect loyalty like that, and I'm not the only one.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Wearing the Colors, Win or Lose."
There's a man in the Bible who didn't always wear Jesus' colors. In John 19:38, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus has been crucified. Later it says, "Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilot for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilot's permission, he came and took the body away." Now, it's interesting that Joseph of Arimathea probably, well figuratively had a jersey that said, "I belong to Jesus Christ." But he took it off when he was in settings where it could be embarrassing or where it could cost him something.
Jesus has a lot of followers like that--maybe you. You're probably His when that's the winning idea; when that's the thing everybody's doing. You sing the songs, maybe give a testimony, you voice His values when you're in His meetings, and then you go to the office or your workplace where being identified with Jesus might give you a loser status. Or you go to school, or you're with a group of friends, and suddenly you submerge faster than a submarine. See, we're like "fit in" people; changing our allegiance as the environment changes.
Well, there's good news for people like that, because people like that can change. Joseph did. Notice he came out of hiding. He took his stand for good. He said, "Jesus can be buried in my tomb." He would be forever identified with Jesus from that day on. There was no turning back. Why? Because he saw what Jesus did on the cross for him.
Isn't it time for you to go public with your commitment to Christ, to let people know where you stand and who you stand with, to let them know you are not ashamed of the Man who was not ashamed of you as He hung on a cross? The fans who can truly celebrate when their team finally wins are the ones who were loyal when no one else was. Jesus will win. Every knee will bow at His name. The real winners will be those who stood by Jesus when it cost them something.
So, step up to the freedom, the adventure of finally saying, "I belong to Jesus Christ no matter what it costs." And if someone should ask you, "But what if it means you lose?" Answer proudly, "Either way."
