Max Lucado Daily: God Revealed
When God chose to reveal himself to mankind, what did He use? A book? A church? A moral code? No. To limit God's revelation to a cold list of do's and don't's is as tragic as looking at a Colorado roadmap and saying you'd seen the Rockies!
When God chose to reveal himself, he did so through a human body. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. And his tears-oh, don't miss the tears-they came from a heart as broken as your or mine ever has been. People came to him. Touched him. Followed him. He refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit. He chose instead to be Jesus.
Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures. It's man who creates the distance. It's Jesus who builds the bridge!
From God Came Near
Ezekiel 45
Israel Fully Restored
“‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits[a] long and 20,000[b] cubits[c] wide; the entire area will be holy. 2 Of this, a section 500 cubits[d] square is to be for the sanctuary, with 50 cubits[e] around it for open land. 3 In the sacred district, measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits[f] wide. In it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 An area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide will belong to the Levites, who serve in the temple, as their possession for towns to live in.[g]
6 “‘You are to give the city as its property an area 5,000 cubits[h] wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.
7 “‘The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city. It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side, running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions. 8 This land will be his possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the people of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes.
9 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 10 You are to use accurate scales, an accurate ephah[i] and an accurate bath.[j] 11 The ephah and the bath are to be the same size, the bath containing a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer is to be the standard measure for both. 12 The shekel[k] is to consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina.[l]
13 “‘This is the special gift you are to offer: a sixth of an ephah[m] from each homer of wheat and a sixth of an ephah[n] from each homer of barley. 14 The prescribed portion of olive oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath[o] from each cor (which consists of ten baths or one homer, for ten baths are equivalent to a homer). 15 Also one sheep is to be taken from every flock of two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These will be used for the grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 All the people of the land will be required to give this special offering to the prince in Israel. 17 It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals, the New Moons and the Sabbaths—at all the appointed festivals of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings,[p] grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the Israelites.
18 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In the first month on the first day you are to take a young bull without defect and purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar and on the gateposts of the inner court. 20 You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance; so you are to make atonement for the temple.
21 “‘In the first month on the fourteenth day you are to observe the Passover, a festival lasting seven days, during which you shall eat bread made without yeast. 22 On that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land. 23 Every day during the seven days of the festival he is to provide seven bulls and seven rams without defect as a burnt offering to the Lord, and a male goat for a sin offering. 24 He is to provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, along with a hin[q] of olive oil for each ephah.
25 “‘During the seven days of the festival, which begins in the seventh month on the fifteenth day, he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and oil.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 26
Vindicate me, Lord,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the Lord
and have not faltered.
2 Test me, Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
3 for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.
4 I do not sit with the deceitful,
nor do I associate with hypocrites.
5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers
and refuse to sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence,
and go about your altar, Lord,
7 proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
8 Lord, I love the house where you live,
the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
my life with those who are bloodthirsty,
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 I lead a blameless life;
deliver me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground;
in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.
Integrity League
December 2, 2013 — by Dave Branon
He who walks with integrity walks securely. —Proverbs 10:9
We call it the Integrity League, but it’s really just a bunch of guys who get together at lunchtime to play basketball. We call fouls on ourselves, attempt to avoid angry outbursts, and simply try to keep everything fair and enjoyable. We are competitive and we don’t like to lose—but we all agree that integrity and honesty should control the atmosphere.
Integrity. Scripture clearly indicates the importance of this trait. And we honor the God of our lives when we practice it.
Through His Word, God has given us clear reasons to “walk in . . . integrity” (Ps. 26:11). A person who has integrity has the security of a quiet life unknown to the one who “perverts his ways” (Prov. 10:9). The follower of God who lives with integrity is preserved by his confidence in God, for that person waits for God’s intervention in his life instead of running ahead of Him (Ps. 25:21). And the one who practices integrity will be given guidance and clear direction (Prov. 11:3).
Why should we care about life’s “Integrity League”? Because obeying God this way shows that we trust Him with our lives and that we want to shine His great love on others.
Dear Father, help my word be true. Help my
actions be honest. Help my life to
reflect Your holiness and shine God’s light
for all to see. Help me to live with integrity.
Integrity is Christlike character in workclothes.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 2, 2013
Christian Perfection
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect . . . —Philippians 3:12
It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.
Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do. The next thought that strikes you is that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives may leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary— that through your own human effort and devotion you can attain God’s standard for your life. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Not a Lot of Answers But Plenty of Guarantees - #7016
Monday, December 2, 2013
Little Mark is at that stage. He's about three years old. He's the son of our friends, and he's cute...for a while. Until he starts asking all those questions! Guess what his favorite one is? (I'll bet you'll know!) "Why?"
Why is good once, twice, or maybe three times. But with little Mark, every answer you give provokes another, "Why?" Pretty soon you'll run out of answers to all the "why's". I only see him occasionally, and the last time I saw him I could notice his father across the room with this amused smile. It was if he was telling me, "Hey, it's your turn, Ron. I get this all the time." Listen, can you imagine a day in and day out, "Why, Daddy?" We might say to his father, "Well, he'll outgrow it." But in fact, we haven't even outgrown asking "Why?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Not a Lot of Answers, But Plenty of Guarantees."
Our word for today from the Word of God. We're in the familiar words of 1 Corinthians 10:13 . "No temptation..." it says. Which, by the way, in the original Greek word also means trial or testing. "No temptation (or trial, or testing) has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted (or tested or tried) He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
Now, I find nowhere in scripture a promise of answers to our persistent question, "Why, Daddy?" When trouble comes we say, "Why is this happening, Father?" God's tapestry is way too complex to understand with only earth eyes. I don't know what trouble or trial you're struggling with right now, and I sure don't know why. But I do know four guarantees that God gives you in the middle of your struggle.
Number one: never past the breaking point. We just read it. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. He has never taken one of His children past their breaking point. He knows your limits. He'll take you to the breaking point to increase your spiritual weight-lifting strength; to increase your faith; to make you more of an emotional winner and champion. But He'll never take you past the breaking point. That's guaranteed.
Number two: never without God's signature. Look at what happened with Job. Job suffering all kinds of things, he must have said, "Why, Daddy? Why is all this happening?" But God didn't answer him. But we know this; the Devil had to get God's permission before he could touch Job. It's still that way today. If there is a trial in your life, it has been Father-filtered. God has signed it before it got to you. He said, "This could make you more like Jesus or I wouldn't let it come into your life." Never without God's signature.
The third guarantee: never without a hope door. It looks like there's no way out, but this says God will always provide a way out. You can't see one, but God has supernatural deliverances that you've never even thought about.
And the fourth guarantee, He guarantees never without God's presence. That wonderful verse in Isaiah chapter 43 says, "When you pass through the fire, I will be with you."
Corrie ten Boom had terrible experiences in a German concentration camp. She lost her family there. They were there because of helping to save Jews in the horrible days of WWII. She said, "There is no pit so deep but God's love is deeper still." If you're a child of God who is full of questions about "why", your Father understands that. You may not even get the answer to that question this side of heaven. But you have your Father's guarantees: Never past the breaking point, never without His signature, never without a hope door, and never without God's presence.
It could just be that you've been weathering life's "why's" and storms and troubles, and you don't have this kind of personal relationship where you know the deep love of God. He died on a cross so you could have that kind of relationship with Him to remove the sin that's between you and Him. And you could begin that relationship today by saying, "Lord, I've been without your love long enough. I'm yours."
You want to know how to begin that relationship? Let me invite you to join me at our website ANewStory.com. It could be page one, chapter one of a new story for you. From the moment you begin a relationship with Jesus, you have His promise that has your name on it. "I will never leave you. I will never forsake you."