Max Lucado Daily: Dangerous Liberty
“Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.” 1 Peter 1:17, The Message
Each life is . . . a story to be written.
The Author starts each life story, but each life will write his or her own ending.
What a dangerous liberty. How much safer it would have been to finish the story for each Adam. To script every opinion. It would have been simpler. It would have been safer.
But it would not have been love.
Love is only love if chosen.
Joshua 8
Ai Destroyed
1 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”
3 So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night 4 with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 5 I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. 6 They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, 7 you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hand. 8 When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. See to it; you have my orders.”
9 Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.
10 Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. 11 The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. 16 All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.
18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. 19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.
20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. 21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. 23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed[g] all who lived in Ai. 27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua.
28 So Joshua burned Ai[h] and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.
The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal
30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, 31 as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the LORD burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses. 33 All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.
34 Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 12:9-21
Love in Action
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[b] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[c]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Bedlam
July 20, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
Those who leave the paths of uprightness . . . rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked. —Proverbs 2:13-14
England’s Imperial War Museum is housed in a building in London that was a former location of the Bethlem Royal Hospital, a care center for the mentally ill. The hospital was commonly known as “Bedlam,” which gradually became a term used to describe scenes of chaos and madness.
It’s ironic that the War Museum would occupy Bedlam’s former location. As you walk through the museum, in addition to stories of heroism and sacrifice in wartime, you also find bone-chilling accounts of the madness of man’s inhumanity to man. From the exhibits about modern genocide and ethnic cleansing to the one on the Holocaust, it is evil on display.
Solomon observed mankind’s propensity for evil, describing it as those who “rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked” (Prov. 2:14). While this may describe much of the world around us, followers of Jesus have a refreshingly different way to handle life. Paul challenged us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). Christ-centered actions such as living morally (v.17), making peace (v.18), and treating our enemies with care (v.20) will affect the world for good.
If each of us were to live as a reflection of God’s love, perhaps there would be a lot less bedlam.
The godless and sinful everywhere
Are objects of God’s love and care,
But they will always know hopeless despair
Unless His love with them we share. —D. De Haan
A despairing world needs caring Christians.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 20th, 2011
Dependent on God’s Presence
Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint —Isaiah 40:31
There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:35-36). There is nothing abstract or obscure in the Bible; everything is vivid and real. God does not say, “Be spiritual,” but He says, “Walk before Me. . .” (Genesis 17:1).
When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up “with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.
Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of— “We will not fear, even though . . .” (Psalm 46:2)— will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God’s presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, “He has been here all the time!” At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, “Oh, Lord, direct me in this, and in that.” Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! If our everyday decisions are not according to His will, He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Myth of the Honorary Chairman - #6398
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
You know, some people who financially support Christian ministry also like to play golf. I don't happen to be one of them. If you'd seen the one time I did play golf, when I hit my partner in the head with a club, you would understand why I've been banned from golf courses.
But there are those who get together to play golf in a benefit tournament on behalf of the cause they support. In one major city they asked the local NFL quarterback, probably the best known guy in town, to be the chairman. Well, actually, they asked him to be the honorary chairman. They put his name on the invitation, on the letterhead, and that was pretty impressive. It made the event feel more important. But don't kid yourself. That quarterback had absolutely no say in how that day was organized. See, he was the honorary chairman. Translation: Big title - no authority.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Myth of the Honorary Chairman."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 6 , and I'll begin reading in verse 46. Jesus is describing here a relationship that seems to be alright with Him, but it has a major problem. He says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and puts them into practice. He's like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. And when a flood came, a torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears My words and does not put them into practice, is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house it collapsed, and its destruction was complete."
Now, Jesus is describing in this passage a man headed for a collapse; someone who calls Jesus "Lord, Lord," but doesn't do what He says. In other words, Jesus has become that man's honorary chairman. See, that happens to us. Oh we still have Jesus' name on the letterhead; He's still got top billing, He's got the title. He's still got our official allegiance, but He doesn't have any real authority over the choices that really matter to us, that make up our days.
It's easy for that to happen after you've followed Christ for a while. Oh, there was a time when you gave Him everything about you. You knew how much you needed Him. But see, there's a lot more of you now. I mean, you've got business decisions; you've got a much larger life, relationships that weren't there before, a reputation maybe you didn't have before, needs that weren't there when you gave Him all of you. Your family is different; your financial position is different.
It could be that His lordship may not have grown with your life; maybe it hasn't expanded daily as each day's new experiences have emerged. It could be that you're depending on a commitment that was deep and meaningful at one time and it was difficult to make then, because you were giving all. But now what was once passion has sort of become professional; what was alive has become official. What was warm has become cold. It could be that it's time to return to that altar where you totally surrendered. Oh, but it will be harder this time because you have more to give.
But Jesus paid with His life, not to have the title of Lord, but the have the authority. Authority that is daily expanded through giving Him new ground from that 24-hour period of your life. You make Him Lord of the stuff of that day and you do it again tomorrow.
Why don't you light the fire again—the fire that is kindled not when Jesus is honorary chairman, but when He is the hands-on Lord of every choice you make.