Max Lucado Daily: God Did
“The Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” Isaiah 60:2 NKJV
When we create a redeemer, we keep him safely distant in his faraway castle. We allow him only the briefest of encounters with us. We permit him to swoop in and out with his sleigh before we can draw too near. We wouldn’t ask him to take up residence in the midst of a contaminated people. In our wildest imaginings we wouldn’t conjure a king who became one of us. But God did.
1 Samuel 4
1 And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 When the ark of the LORD’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. “A god has[a] come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
Death of Eli
12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”
The man hurried over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. 16 He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”
Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
17 The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led[b] Israel forty years.
19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.
21 She named the boy Ichabod,[c] saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Seasons Of Ups And Downs
September 19, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. —Ecclesiastes 3:4
Most of us would agree that life has its ups and downs. Wise King Solomon believed this and reflected on our responses to fluctuating circumstances. In Ecclesiastes, he wrote: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: . . . a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (3:1-4).
Solomon’s father, David, was called “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22). Yet David’s life illustrates how life is filled with seasons of ups and downs. David wept over his and Bathsheba’s first child who was fatally ill (2 Sam. 12:22). Yet he also wrote songs of praise and joyous laughter (Ps. 126:1-3). With the death of his rebellious son Absalom, David experienced a time of deep mourning (2 Sam. 18:33). And when the ark was brought to Jerusalem, David, in spiritual ecstasy, danced before the Lord (2 Sam. 6:12-15).
We do a disservice to ourselves and others when we portray the Christian life as peaceful and happy all the time. Instead, the Bible portrays the believer’s life as consisting of seasons of ups and downs. In what season are you? Whether a time of joy or sadness, each season should motivate us to seek the Lord and trust Him.
Dear Lord, help us to turn to You not only in sadness
but also in joy. We know You give us both good times
and bad to draw us to You and help us grow.
May we learn to trust You in all seasons of life. Amen.
Every season needs faith to get us through it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 19th, 2011
Are You Going on With Jesus?
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, “FollowMe” (Matthew 4:19)
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Loving Me Ugly - #6441
Monday, September 19, 2011
Some couples' wedding vows get tested sooner; some get tested later. My friends had theirs tested right away. When they went to Mexico for their honeymoon, they promptly picked up some Spanish speaking bug down there, and they got very, very sick in the middle of what was supposed to be their very romantic honeymoon. I think it was commonly called Montezuma's Revenge or something like that.
Well, in the middle of all of that, the power failed in the town they were honeymooning in, so they were left without lights and plumbing. And you thought you had problems! Well the good news is they loved each other through it all and they even finally found the grace to laugh through the mess they were in...even though neither of them looked very romantic or felt very romantic at all.
Oh, they did ok. They passed one of the most important tests of love. Remember those vows "in sickness and in health"? You know what? All of us are sick and ugly at certain times--unlovable. And we're pretty sure no one could love us this ugly.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Loving Me Ugly."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Luke 15:17-20. It's a familiar story. It's called the story of the prodigal son by most people. He's left his Dad, and now as you may remember, he's doing something that a good Jewish boy probably wouldn't want to do. He's feeding pigs; he's living with the pigs. Not exactly a kosher occupation.
And now it says, "When he came to his senses he said, 'How many of my Father's hired men have food to spare, and here I'm starving to death. I will set out and go back to my Father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired men."' So he got up and went to his Father. But while he was still a long way off, his Father saw him, was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."
This son comes home and he tests whether his Dad's love is the kind of love that will love him in sickness and in health. He feels very unworthy of coming back. He has no successes to report, no fortune to show. He left with riches, and he comes home poor; he left home smelling like fine aftershave and comes home stinking like pigs. He left in the best of clothes; he comes back in rags. He's an embarrassment to his Father's name. He expects to be rejected, but his Father runs to him. Someone has said this is the only place in the Bible where God runs. That's God as the father running.
Sort of like my honeymoon friends, this young man was experiencing unconditional love: love when he was sick, love when he was down, love when he was ugly. Let's look at it again. God's the Father, and you're the child away from home. You never thought you'd end up doing what you've done, considering what you're considering, feeling like you're feeling. You feel like you've failed God; you're unworthy--He wouldn't want you back. How could He love me like this; how could He take me back after what I've done?
We've been raised to believe that we'll only be loved if we perform and please people, and meet their expectations. But God is committed to you in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and death will not part you. If He was ever going to turn His back on you, it would have been at the cross, and He didn't.
Why are you living away from home, from His "take you as you are" kind of love? Oh, maybe you're not in the pigpen yet. Well, don't wait until you hit the wall at the end of a dead-end street. And even if you have, head home.
And, you will find a Father running to meet you and to clean you up and hug you. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus at His cross and taken personally what He died to give you, His forgiveness, His eternal life, today tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website. There's so much there that will help you on your way to Him. The website is YoursForLife.net.
You can be sure if you start toward God, He will run to you. Never in your life have you been loved like He will love you.