Max Lucado Daily: The Purpose of Life
As surely as a child breathes, he will someday wonder, "What is the purpose of my life?" Some search for meaning in a career. My purpose is to be a dentist. Fine vocation but hardly a justification for existence. They opt to be a human doing rather than a human being. They work many hours, because if they don't, they have no identify. For others, who they are is what they have. They find meaning in a new car, a new house, new clothes. They are great for the economy because they're always seeking meaning in something they own. Sports, entertainment, cults, sex, you name it. Paul says in Romans 1:22, "Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead." Contrast that to God's vision of life when he said, "We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us!" (Ephesians 2:10).
From In the Grip of Grace
Exodus 37
The Ark
Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.[e] 2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. 3 He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 4 Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 5 And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it.
6 He made the atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 7 Then he made two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 8 He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover. 9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover.
The Table
10 They[f] made the table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.[g] 11 Then they overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it. 12 They also made around it a rim a handbreadth[h] wide and put a gold molding on the rim. 13 They cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners, where the four legs were. 14 The rings were put close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 15 The poles for carrying the table were made of acacia wood and were overlaid with gold. 16 And they made from pure gold the articles for the table—its plates and dishes and bowls and its pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings.
The Lampstand
17 They made the lampstand of pure gold. They hammered out its base and shaft, and made its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 18 Six branches extended from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 21 One bud was under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 22 The buds and the branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.
23 They made its seven lamps, as well as its wick trimmers and trays, of pure gold. 24 They made the lampstand and all its accessories from one talent[i] of pure gold.
The Altar of Incense
25 They made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high[j]—its horns of one piece with it. 26 They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. 27 They made two gold rings below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. 28 They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
29 They also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense—the work of a perfumer.
Exodus 37:1 That is, about 3 3/4 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide and high or about 1.1 meters long and 68 centimeters wide and high; similarly in verse 6
Exodus 37:10 Or He; also in verses 11-29
Exodus 37:10 That is, about 3 feet long, 1 1/2 feet wide and 2 1/4 feet high or about 90 centimeters long, 45 centimeters wide and 68 centimeters high
Exodus 37:12 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
Exodus 37:24 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
Exodus 37:25 That is, about 1 1/2 feet long and wide and 3 feet high or about 45 centimeters long and wide and 90 centimeters high
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 08, 2014
Read: Mark 4:1-20
The Parable of the Sower
Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a]”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
Footnotes: Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9,10
Sow What?
By Julie Ackerman Link
He who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. —Proverbs 11:18
On the clock tower of my alma mater is an Art Deco bas-relief sculpture titled The Sower. The inscription beneath it is from Galatians 6:7, “Whatsoever a man soweth.” Michigan State University remains a leader in agricultural research, but despite many improvements in farming techniques and crop production, this fact remains: Seeds of corn will not produce a crop of beans.
Jesus used many farming metaphors to explain the kingdom of God. In the parable of the sower (Mark 4), He compared the Word of God to seeds sown in different types of soil. As the parable indicates, the sower sows indiscriminately, knowing that some seed will fall in places where it will not grow.
Like Jesus, we are to sow good seed in all places at all times. God is responsible for where it lands and how it grows. The important thing is that we sow. God does not want us to reap destruction, so He wants us to sow what is good and right (Prov. 11:18). The apostle Paul elaborated on the metaphor when he warned believers not to sow seeds of corruption. Instead, we are to sow seeds that will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:8).
The answer to the question, “Sow what?” is “Sow what you want to reap.” To reap a good harvest in your life, start sowing seeds of goodness.
Sow a thought, reap an act;
Sow an act, reap a habit;
Sow a habit, reap a character;
Sow a character, reap a destiny. —Anon.
A buried seed brings fruit; a selfless life reaps an eternal harvest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 08, 2014
Do It Yourself (1)
. . . casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to “stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . .” (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier “against the knowledge of God” is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers “against the knowledge of God.” We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 08, 2014
Resetting from the 'Me' Zone - #7216
Life on the road is so glamorous! Yeah, I can pack, unpack and repack my suitcase blindfolded. I have learned the survival skills of living in airports. And one of the most important things to remember, although it is hard sometimes, remember what time zone you're in. You can really get that messed up if you forget that. A lot of things are going to be wrong. I know! You miss planes, you miss meals, you miss appointments, you miss sleep. So I must faithfully reset my watch as I cross in and out of time zones or everything else is going to get messed up.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Resetting from the 'Me' Zone."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Daniel 10. I'm going to give you a little background here. Daniel is trying to understand what God's plan is, and he needs some special wisdom from the Lord. He doesn't understand what he's feeling. He's receiving a messenger from heaven, though, who tells him that he is highly esteemed by God, and then reveals what has impressed God about Daniel's praying.
Daniel 10:12 from the Word of God. The messenger said, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard and I have come in response to them." These words really leaped out at me as I read this. You set your mind to humble yourself.
Now, this business of us humbling ourselves; it's apparently pretty important to God. He keeps talking about it. 1 Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time." This humbling yourself? It's not something that comes naturally. You have to set your mind. I was really hit with that "setting your mind" to humble yourself. It's like me resetting my watch. It's concentrating on a different zone from the zone we're used to living in in this selfie world.
Now, what is humility? It's not denying your created worth and saying, "I'm no good." No, that's an insult to God. Maybe it's best understood by its opposite-self-focus. That's the 'me' zone we live in most of the time. How will this help me? How can I look good? How can I get the edge? My comfort, my story, my need, my feelings, my advancement, my attention. Humility, then, is self-forgetfulness; setting your mind to forget about yourself.
In Philippians 2 we're told to "have the same attitude Jesus had." And then it says, "He humbled himself." And then it describes how He later denied His comfort in heaven, His safety, His rights, all of His interests. Ultimately, He denied himself His life. And that's why God exalted Him, and that's why He will exalt you if you humble yourself.
I'm beginning to see this business of humbling myself as pretty practical stuff. Look, each new day I have to reset my inner watch, because it keeps resetting to the 'me' zone. And I have to set it to live in the 'God and others' zone. I need to pray, and maybe you do too, "Lord, by nature I'm self-centered. I'm going to live for my stuff today unless I set my mind to humble myself. I want to do that; I want to lay aside my self-agenda today. I just want to be available for Your agenda. Help me forget about myself. Help me focus on You. Help me focus on the people around me. Help me seek to give attention, not try to get it. Help me to bring credit to You, not to me. Help me to focus on the needs of other people, not on my own. Help me to let other people tell their story before I tell mine; to prefer other people ahead of me." See, that's resetting yourself for another day of walking humbly before your God.
And in the strangely upside-down ways of God you'll find your life by giving it away. You'll be promoted by God, who could do a much better job of it than you can by promoting yourself. Take it from a veteran of crossing time zones, things are not right until you've reset for a different zone. And things won't be right for you unless you reset each morning from the 'me' zone to the 'God and others' zone. It's called humility.