Max Lucado Daily: The Rule of the Kingdom
“We must not become tired of doing good.” Galatians 6:9
When we are mistreated, our animalistic response is to go on the hunt. Instinctively, we double up our fists. Getting even is only natural. Which incidentally, is precisely the problem. Revenge is natural, not spiritual. Getting even is the rule of the jungle. Giving grace is the rule of the kingdom . . .
To forgive someone is to admit our limitations. We’ve been given only one piece of life’s jigsaw puzzle. Only God has the cover of the box.
Joshua 3
Crossing the Jordan
1 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits[c] between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”
6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.
7 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Timothy 2:8-10;
8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
Old School
July 12, 2011 — by Dave Branon
I desire . . . that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. —1 Timothy 2:8-9
As we hurtle through the first part of this new century, we see an increase in people questioning time-honored standards. This was plainly detailed recently by a teen pop star—a girl who professes faith in Jesus.
While discussing standards for modesty in how she dresses, she discounted criticism of her skimpy clothing by saying, “That’s so old school.”
This young woman is both right and wrong. In a sense, she’s right. The standards of dress for Christians are “old school.” They were written down more than 2,000 years ago. But her attitude that suggests ancient standards can be set aside is wrong. In the truest sense, the principles in the Bible are not “old” as much as they are timeless. While written ages ago, they are still fresh and applicable.
As to the question of modesty, when the Bible says women should “adorn themselves in modest apparel” (1 Tim. 2:9), it is still true today that we shouldn’t dress to draw attention to ourselves. A more general principle, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed” (Rom. 12:2), is a 2011 command that can guide the question of how we dress.
So whether you’re a pop star or a pew sitter, don’t worry about being “old school” if what you are doing is done according to the Book.
Dear Lord, help us to follow the timeless
standards of the Bible in speech, clothing,
and other lifestyle matters. May all
we say and do bring glory to You. Amen.
Do my choices bring glory to God or draw attention to me?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 12th, 2011
The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church
. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . —Ephesians 4:13
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.
My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
How Did I Get On This Back Road? - #6392
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
A while back I was on my way to an engagement where it was very important for me to be on time, and I really should have had my wife with me. See, we have a little arrangement--works pretty well. I'm the pilot; she's the navigator. She's got a great sense of direction; I can't find my way out of my bedroom in the morning. So it's good to have her along, but she wasn't there.
So, of course, I missed the main road, and that main road is a straight shot to the school where I needed to be. Instead, I started to wander on this endless, winding road that went forever without passing a house, without passing a person, in fact without even intersecting another road. Any other time, oh, maybe it would have been a nice, quiet ride in the country. But this winding road wasn't taking me where I wanted to go. I needed the main road! I needed it fast! And somehow I had lost the main road. Maybe you have too.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How Did I Get On This Back Road?"
John the Baptist, one of the most intriguing people in the New Testament, and his calling was to prepare people for the Lord's coming. Now, there's a lesson for us in his ministry in how to get ready for the Lord's coming again, and even how to get ready for what He wants to do in your life. Maybe this year He would like to come into your life in a new, and dramatic, and reviving way.
Well, this word for today in the Word of God that's in Luke 3, is about people who were on a winding road when they needed a straight one and it shows how you can get back to the main road. If you feel like your road has developed some curves, some bumps recently, listen to chapter 3, beginning in verse 3. "John went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, 'A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight paths for Him.'" He says that, I guess, to people on winding roads. "Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked road (you on one of those?) shall become straight, the rough ways (maybe that's where you are) will become smooth."
Okay, how do you get ready for the Lord's coming to you? Straighten out the curves and smooth out the bumps. How do you do that? Let's go back to John's message. It's a message about repentance from sin. You deal with your sin, you repent. You change! You finally change in that area where you've stubbornly been doing it your way. We desperately try every other possibility to get the bumps out of the road. We change the scenery, we change jobs, we change churches, we change our hair style, we change our plans, our approach, we change people in our lives. And we're still hitting the bumps and the curves.
And the reason may well be a sin that you just have not confronted. Now, you may feel bad about it, you may have even asked forgiveness for it, but you haven't changed. God's looking for repentance that is expressed in deeds--not words. Will you actively begin to do the opposite of what you were doing wrong? Over-correct: make sure you are steering radically away from the sin that has been a part of your life for too long. The bumps, the curves will continue to plague you until you attack the sin that you've been tolerating.
Are you tired of the back road you're on? Why not go back on God's main road? You access God's best by repentance. If your shock absorbers have absorbed about all the bumps they can, make the one turn that will help--turn away from that sin and toward God's better alternative. It's time to get back on the main road.
