Max Lucado Daily: Stay in the Race
Don’t give up! In 1952 Florence Chadwick attempted to swim the ocean waters between Catalina Island and the California shore—through foggy weather and choppy seas. After 15 hours her muscles began to cramp and her resolve weakened. She begged to be taken out of the water, but her mother riding in a boat alongside, urged her not to give up. She kept trying but grew exhausted. Aids lifted her out of the water. As they paddled a few more minutes, the mist broke. She discovered shore was less than a half mile away. She said, “All I could see was the fog. I think if I could’ve seen the shore, I would’ve made it!”
Friend, don’ t give up! The finish may be only strokes away. God may at this moment be lifting His hand to signal Gabriel to grab the trumpet. The shore may be closer than you think. Stay at it. Stay in the race. And don’t give up!
from Facing Your Giants
Hebrews 9
New International Version (NIV)
Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle
9 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2 A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. 9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
The Blood of Christ
11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16 In the case of a will,[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”[e] 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Footnotes:
Hebrews 9:11 Some early manuscripts are to come
Hebrews 9:12 Or blood, having obtained
Hebrews 9:14 Or from useless rituals
Hebrews 9:16 Same Greek word as covenant; also in verse 17
Hebrews 9:20 Exodus 24:8
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Genesis 40:1-14,23
New International Version (NIV)
The Cupbearer and the Baker
40 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.
After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”
12 “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.
Genesis 40:23
New International Version (NIV)
23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
The Gift Of Remembering
August 19, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. —Genesis 40:23
During seminary, I worked in a nursing home. As I spent time talking to these men and women, at some point nearly every patient would describe the loneliness of their present lives and the realization that they were outliving their peers. Most wondered if anyone would remember them when they passed from this life.
It isn’t just the elderly who can feel lonely and forgotten. In fact, many of us feel trapped and alone, set aside by circumstances fair and unfair. Sometimes we even experience what the Old Testament character Joseph did: people failing to remember us when there’s every reason they should.
Genesis 40 describes Joseph’s experiences as he’s trapped in prison. The cupbearer had been freed and returned to the king’s service, just as Joseph told him would happen (vv.9-13). Joseph had asked to be mentioned to Pharaoh, but the cupbearer forgot him (vv.14,23).
We may feel forgotten. Yet, like Joseph, we are not (42:9-13). Jesus sits at the right hand of God, and our prayers reach the throne of the King without fail because our Savior is our Mediator. When we feel alone, let’s remember to rest in the confidence of Jesus’ promise to be with us forever (Matt. 28:20).
Lord, let me be found serving others, as Joseph
did, in those hours when I feel most forgotten.
May I never be the “cupbearer” who fails to bring
the lonely and hurting to Your attention in prayer.
Jesus never abandons or forgets His own.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 19, 2013
Self-Awareness
Come to Me . . . —Matthew 11:28
God intends for us to live a well-rounded life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside. Then we tend to fall back into self-examination, a habit that we thought was gone. Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.
Never allow anything that divides or destroys the oneness of your life with Christ to remain in your life without facing it. Beware of allowing the influence of your friends or your circumstances to divide your life. This only serves to sap your strength and slow your spiritual growth. Beware of anything that can split your oneness with Him, causing you to see yourself as separate from Him. Nothing is as important as staying right spiritually. And the only solution is a very simple one— “Come to Me . . . .” The intellectual, moral, and spiritual depth of our reality as a person is tested and measured by these words. Yet in every detail of our lives where we are found not to be real, we would rather dispute the findings than come to Jesus.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Messages After the Hit - #6941
Monday, August 19, 2013
There's not much amusing, of course, about an automobile accident, but my friend Jean's accident did have a little smile at the end; at least in retrospect. This car came charging into her right rear door all of a sudden, and "boom" there was one of those discouraging days when your car doesn't quite look the same as when you left home.
Her daughter's head hit the glass in the passenger's side window and broke it. And Jean's glasses went flying. Well, thankfully there was no serious injury, and the policeman said after his investigation, "I think it will be okay for you to drive the car home." Well, apparently the computerized monitor in the dashboard didn't know that. Because all the way home the computer voice kept saying, "Right door is open. Fuel level is low." Actually, the right door was damaged a little, but it wasn't open. And that voice just kept insisting "Fuel level is low. Fuel level is low." Well, that voice had no way of knowing she had just filled the car with gas and the gauge said full but the voice said empty. Poor Jean! She took a hit, and then she started getting all kinds of wrong messages.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Messages After The Hit."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we're in Psalm 119, beginning at verse 25. David's in pretty bad shape here. He says, "I am laid low in the dust. Preserve my life according to Your Word." Verse 28, "My soul is weary with sorrow. Strengthen me according to Your Word." Verse 49, "Remember Your Word to your servant, for You have given me hope." Verse 50, our word for today from the Word of God really focuses on this one, "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life."
It seems that David is saying something like this. "When my heart is hurting, when my spirit is doubting, when my feelings are crashing, I hold onto Your Word, Lord" like a drowning man clings desperately to a life preserver.
And David says, "Your Word, Lord, is what preserves my life. See, when you've been hit, you start hearing a lot of wrong messages like Jean did. "God doesn't care. You've got no reason to go on. You can't live without what you just lost. You might as well quit trying. Why don't you get even? You have a right to be bitter. God can't use you any more." Lies! Those are lies! They are wrong messages. But your feelings have lied to you thousands of times.
Take David's advice, "As soon as you get hit, you dive into your Bible. Don't trust your feelings. Don't trust those messages." You say, "Well, I don't feel like getting into the Bible right now." That's when you've got to do it. That's when it's most urgent that you do. You'll only be able to escape the lies if you immerse yourself in the truth. Ask God to hug you with His Word, to hold you with His Word, to support you with His Word, to give you hope with His Word. Memorize it; quote it when the dark feelings come. His promise will preserve your life.
While that voice was telling my friend "Fuel level is low", the gauge was telling my friend the truth. God's words; they're the gauge that will expose the lies that your confused emotions are telling you. Let God's voice override all those obnoxious messages.
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