Max Lucado Daily: Need to Call Home?
The plane arrived late and folks were mad. I got off the plane with a cramp in my leg, an empty stomach, a bad attitude and three more hours of travel to go. I skipped lunch and called home. Denalyn answered. She's always glad when I call. We made no decisions. We solved no problems. We just talked and I felt better. I can handle being a pilgrim as long as I know that I can call home whenever I want.
Maybe that's the rationale behind Matthew 14:19. "Taking the five loaves and two fish, Jesus gave thanks." Jesus was surrounded by people who wanted food and disciples who wanted a break. He needed a minute with someone who would understand. He needed to call home. Maybe you should call home, too. God will be glad when you do-but not half as glad as you will be!
From In the Eye of the Storm
Exodus 16
Manna and Quail
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”
13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer[a] for each person you have in your tent.’”
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers[b] for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you[c] refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The people of Israel called the bread manna.[d] It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”
33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”
34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
36 (An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, August 07, 2014
Read: Ephesians 4:1-12
Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”[b]
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
Footnotes:
Ephesians 4:8 Or God
Ephesians 4:8 Psalm 68:18
Ephesians 4:9 Or the depths of the earth
Insight
Paul never gives instruction without reminding readers of the reason for it. Today’s encouragement to bear with one another (Eph. 4:2) is rooted in the necessity of recognizing that the Spirit unites us in one calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God (vv.3-6). We are to be patient with others so that the body of Christ may be edified (vv.2,12).
Difficult People
By Dennis Fisher
Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called . . . bearing with one another in love. —Ephesians 4:1-2
In the book God in the Dock, author C. S. Lewis describes the kind of people we have trouble getting along with. Selfishness, anger, jealousy, or other quirks often sabotage our relationship with them. We sometimes think, Life would be much easier if we didn’t have to contend with such difficult people.
Lewis then turns the tables on us by pointing out that these frustrations are what God has to endure with each of us every day. He writes: “You are just that sort of person. You also have a fatal flaw in your character. All the hopes and plans of others have again and again shipwrecked on your character just as your hopes and plans have shipwrecked on theirs.” This self-awareness should motivate us to try to show the same patience and acceptance to others that God shows to us daily.
In Ephesians, Paul exhorts us to arm ourselves relationally “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love” (4:2). The one who is patient is better able to deal with a difficult person without becoming provoked to anger and retaliation. Instead, he or she is able to endure, exhibiting grace in spite of upsetting behavior.
Are there difficult people in your life? Ask God to show His love through you.
Some people can be difficult to love,
And so we do not even try to care;
But God says, “Love them just as I’ve loved you—
You’ll bring Me glory as My love you share.” —Cetas
See others as God sees you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, August 07, 2014
Prayer in the Father’s House
. . . they found Him in the temple . . . . And He said to them, ’. . . Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ —Luke 2:46, 49
Our Lord’s childhood was not immaturity waiting to grow into manhood— His childhood is an eternal fact. Am I a holy, innocent child of God as a result of my identification with my Lord and Savior? Do I look at my life as being in my Father’s house? Is the Son of God living in His Father’s house within me?
The only abiding reality is God Himself, and His order comes to me moment by moment. Am I continually in touch with the reality of God, or do I pray only when things have gone wrong— when there is some disturbance in my life? I must learn to identify myself closely with my Lord in ways of holy fellowship and oneness that some of us have not yet even begun to learn. “. . . I must be about My Father’s business”— and I must learn to live every moment of my life in my Father’s house.
Think about your own circumstances. Are you so closely identified with the Lord’s life that you are simply a child of God, continually talking to Him and realizing that everything comes from His hands? Is the eternal Child in you living in His Father’s house? Is the grace of His ministering life being worked out through you in your home, your business, and in your circle of friends? Have you been wondering why you are going through certain circumstances? In fact, it is not that you have to go through them. It is because of your relationship with the Son of God who comes, through the providential will of His Father, into your life. You must allow Him to have His way with you, staying in perfect oneness with Him.
The life of your Lord is to become your vital, simple life, and the way He worked and lived among people while here on earth must be the way He works and lives in you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, August 07, 2014
The Container Hang-up - #7194
There's one sure way to gather a crowd at our house. In fact it just happened last night. You just walk slowly through the house with a flat, white, large, square box - "Pizza!" And you will get that Pied Piper feeling. We've noticed that these pizza boxes all say the same thing. I don't know if you've noticed that. You can go to 10 different pizza places, and they all seem to have the same slogan. "You've tried the rest; now try the best." Somebody's got to be wrong about that.
Anyway, I'm surprised we ever noticed anything on the box, because the pizza box doesn't matter. We attack that box to get what's inside! I mean, who spends time admiring the box? It's what's inside that makes it so interesting.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Container Hang-up."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 3. I'm going to begin reading at verse 3, and it talks about what really matters in a woman. Both men and women need to know this. "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment. Instead it should be that of your inner self; that unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
God says here that what really matters is the inner self of a women, not her outward adornment. And then Proverbs 31 talks about a woman who is praised by her children, fully trusted by her husband, admired by all those around. It doesn't get much better than that. It's the woman I think every woman would want to be, and here's what's really valuable about her. It tells us that in Proverbs 31:10, "A wife of noble character who can find?" What's the secret? Her noble character.
Proverbs 31:30, "Charm is deceptive. Beauty is fleeting (Like our pizza box.) But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." It's her relationship with her Lord. Again, the stuff that's going on - on the inside. There's not much here about the container is there? What makes her valuable is the contents inside the container.
This is a pretty radical idea in a world where a women's worth is usually measured by her figure and her face. Women look at a model in a fashion magazine and they compare themselves. They look at this beautiful woman and they go, "I don't look like that." Guess what? Neither does she. She's been worked on for hours by the finest hairdressers, they've got special lighting. Then they pick one photo out of 150, air brush that one. Yeah, that woman doesn't really exist.
Both men and women have bought the lie that the pizza box is what matters instead of the pizza. (If you know what I mean.) We can't stop the world around us from being all superficial. But as followers of Jesus, we can do better. Women who don't feel they measure up physically usually tend to withdraw or become negative or bitter. They give up on themselves. They get discouraged. They get desperate and settle for something they should never settle for. They actually end up killing the beauty inside that really matters because they're so focused on what they feel they don't have on the outside.
God's Word teaches us that our body is just an earth suit; a soul carrier. And while we cannot choose to be physically beautiful, you can choose to be beautiful on the inside. Not every woman can be gorgeous, but any woman can be radiant.
The Bible says to go for that inner glow; that inward beauty; to be a woman who makes other people feel important, who promotes others rather than herself, who develops this joyful, daily walk with Jesus Christ. It's time that God's men and women go after the royal radiance that a princess of God can have. That's what makes a woman a friend worth knowing and a partner worth loving for a lifetime. Don't chase what you want to marry. Be what you want to marry.
Just ask any pizza lover in our house. (That would be everybody.) The box is only important for a minute and then it gets thrown away. For you, it is what's inside that really counts.