Max Lucado Daily: Overflowing
“My cup overflows with blessings.” Psalm 23:5 NLT
Is an overflowing cup full? Absolutely. The wine reaches the rim and then tumbles over the edge. The goblet is not large enough to contain the quantity. According to David, our hearts are not large enough to contain the blessings that God wants to give. He pours and pours until they literally flow over the edge and down on the table . . .
The last thing we need to worry about is not having enough. Our cup overflows with blessings.
Judges 20
The Israelites Punish the Benjamites
1 Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords. 3 (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel. 7 Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.”
8 All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. 9 But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots. 10 We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah[b] in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” 11 So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.
12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 13 Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.”
But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. 14 From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. 15 At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. 16 Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.
18 The Israelites went up to Bethel[c] and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?”
The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”
19 The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. 20 The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21 The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. 22 But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”
The LORD answered, “Go up against them.”
24 Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 25 This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
26 Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. 27 And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28 with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?”
The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”
29 Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. 30 They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31 The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 32 While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,” the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”
33 All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west[d] of Gibeah.[e] 34 Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. 35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.
Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. 37 Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. 38 The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39 and then the Israelites would counterattack.
The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are defeating them as in the first battle.” 40 But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke. 41 Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come on them. 42 So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily[f] overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. 45 As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.
46 On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. 47 But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48 The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 1:1-9
Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.
Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.
A Focus On Fairness
September 7, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. —Amos 5:15
During the past 135 years of Major League Baseball, only 20 pitchers have thrown a perfect game. On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers would have been number 21 but an umpire’s mistake denied him what every pitcher dreams of. The video replay showed the truth. Even though the umpire later acknowledged his error and apologized to Galarraga, the call made on the field could not be changed.
Through it all, Galarraga remained calm, expressed sympathy for the umpire, and never criticized him. Armando’s refusal to retaliate amazed fans, players, and sportswriters alike.
If we insist on fair treatment for ourselves, we can become angry and frustrated. But when we embrace the Bible’s wisdom, we will seek the welfare of others. Proverbs calls us “to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity” (1:2-3). Oswald Chambers said of our personal dealings with others, “Never look for justice, but never cease to give it; and never allow anything you meet with to sour your relationship to men through Jesus Christ.”
When we experience unfairness, it is our privilege and responsibility as followers of Christ to respond with honesty and integrity, doing what is right, just, and fair.
How others handle justice
May not be up to me;
But when I react to others,
I must show integrity. —Branon
Life is not fair, but God is always faithful.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 7th, 2011
Fountains of Blessings
The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14
The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you “will flow rivers of living water”— irrepressible life (John 7:38).
We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as “rivers of living water” in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you “will flow rivers of living water.” It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.
Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Recycling Garbage - #6433
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The first time I ever flew into New York City, the man who picked me up said, "Well, you just landed on the garbage of New York." I said, "What do you mean by that?" He said, "Well, you see, LaGuardia Airport is built on a landfill. Years ago all these garbage trucks hauled all this garbage from New York out here and built a place where there's now an airport. I was impressed. I thought, "You know, it's amazing what engineers can do. I mean, they made something very useful out of garbage." You know, there is a cosmic engineer who put the galaxies together, and He is a genius at making something useful out of garbage.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Recycling Garbage."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Psalm 51. It's a very, very touching psalm because of the point at which David is writing it. He has sinned the great sin of adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most loyal soldiers. He's then arranged for the murder at the battle front of his friend--her husband. And we now find him groping his way back to the Lord, repenting and seeking forgiveness.
I guess if I were to title this psalm it might be called David at the Dump, because he's really facing a garbage situation--the garbage of his life. Listen to some excerpts from this psalm. "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You."
See, David knows where to begin in cleaning up the garbage of our lives. You've got to acknowledge its ugliness, and he has. And he says, "Now, Lord, I'm counting on You. Please clean it up; give me a new kind of purity. And then give me a determined, steadfast spirit. I've learned from this, God. I'm not going to make these mistakes again. And give me back my joy better than ever."
But notice the result. He said, "As a result of that, God is going to make the garbage of my life into a ministry. Because "I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You." That's a pretty exciting concept to recognize that God can take the garbage of a sin-scarred life and convert it into credentials of His grace.
It happened to the Apostle Paul. As Saul of Tarsus, he murdered Christians, he imprisoned them. His violent past later, though, opened many doors when he came to people and they said, "Woah! You mean you are a follower of Christ?" God turned that garbage into something very useful. It opened doors; it opened hearts. How many times I've heard people say, "You know, after what I've been through, I wouldn't want to go through it again, and I wouldn't want anyone else to. But I can have a ministry to people who are where I was."
Look, maybe you've been a victim of sin. I think of Joan who was abused by her father. But she has resolved that relationship; she's learned to forgive and love him, and this lady is having an amazing ministry to people who were sinned against in the same way. Now, that's not an excuse to play in the garbage. It's far better never to have been there. Just ask anyone who's been there. But if there's garbage in your past, bring it to the Lord Jesus--to the cross where He paid for it all. Let Him forgive you. Let Him clean you up. And most miraculously, then use the junk of your past for His glory and the good of many others.
See, only Jesus could do this. It took His death on the cross to so beat the power and the penalty of our sin that He can now offer us forgiveness and meaning, and turn our past into an incredible future. This could be the day that you could leave all the sin, and all the junk, and all the garbage of a lifetime at His cross. You say, "Jesus, forgive me. I believe You died for me. I'm Yours."
We'd love to help you do that. You can check out our website. You'll find a lot of stuff there from the Bible that will help you. It's YoursForLife.net.
The power of Christ is so great that it reaches even to the garbage dumps of our lives and turns trash into treasure. Like the song writer said, "All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life."
