, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Achievement of God
How can God punish the sin and love the sinner? Ponder the achievement of God. He doesn't condone our sin, nor does he compromise his standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion, nor does he relax his demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, he assumes our sin and, incredibly, sentences himself. God's holiness is honored. Our sin is punished. And we are redeemed.
Hebrews 10:14 explains, "With one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy." God does what we cannot do, so we can be what we dare not dream…perfect before him. He canceled our debt. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross. It was and is an unspeakable gift of grace!
From In the Grip of Grace
Leviticus 2
The Grain Offering
“‘When anyone brings a grain offering to the Lord, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it 2 and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial[b] portion on the altar, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 3 The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings presented to the Lord.
4 “‘If you bring a grain offering baked in an oven, it is to consist of the finest flour: either thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in or thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with olive oil. 5 If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of the finest flour mixed with oil, and without yeast. 6 Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. 7 If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be made of the finest flour and some olive oil. 8 Bring the grain offering made of these things to the Lord; present it to the priest, who shall take it to the altar. 9 He shall take out the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 10 The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings presented to the Lord.
11 “‘Every grain offering you bring to the Lord must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in a food offering presented to the Lord. 12 You may bring them to the Lord as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma. 13 Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.
14 “‘If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, offer crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire. 15 Put oil and incense on it; it is a grain offering. 16 The priest shall burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all the incense, as a food offering presented to the Lord.
Leviticus 2:2 Or representative; also in verses 9 and 16
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Read: Mark 10:17-22
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[a]”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Footnotes:
Mark 10:19 Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20
Insight
In Mark 10:1-16, Jesus taught about the demands of discipleship, including the necessity for childlike faith. Here in the encounter with a rich young man, Jesus spoke of the need to love God totally—fully and unreservedly. This young leader lacked unrivaled allegiance to God because he loved his earthly possessions more (v.22). In His teaching, Jesus had warned, “No servant can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). The young man’s actions sadly illustrated this principle. His story is also told in Matthew 19:16-22 and Luke 18:18-23. Paul too warned of the subtle lure of material riches in 1 Timothy 6:17-19.
Giving It To God
By Dave Branon
[He] went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. —Mark 10:22
A hero to a generation of people who grew up after World War II, Corrie ten Boom left a legacy of godliness and wisdom. A victim of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, she survived to tell her story of faith and dependence on God during horrendous suffering.
“I have held many things in my hands,” Corrie once said, “and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that, I still possess.”
Corrie was well acquainted with loss. She lost family, possessions, and years of her life to hateful people. Yet she learned to concentrate on what could be gained spiritually and emotionally by putting everything in the hands of her heavenly Father.
What does that mean to us? What should we place in God’s hands for safekeeping? According to the story of the rich young man in Mark 10, everything. He held abundance in his hands, but when Jesus asked him to give it up, he refused. He kept his possessions and he failed to follow Jesus—and as a result he “went away sorrowful” (v.22).
Like Corrie ten Boom, we can find hope by putting everything in God’s hands and then trusting Him for the outcome.
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live. —Van de Venter
No life is more secure than a life surrendered to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Is There Good in Temptation?
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man . . . —1 Corinthians 10:13
The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.
A person’s inner nature, what he possesses in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.
Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.
Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else–what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations–He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Counting on Reinforcements - #7223
Well, I taught my boys some baseball, some football, some manners, some English, some history. Then along came chemistry. Oh, I wanted to help one of my sons who was really struggling with it, but my desire wasn't enough. See, chemistry wasn't my thing. As my wife says whenever one of our sons does something crazy, "The apple falls not far from the tree." I don't know why she doesn't say that when they do something good. Well, that was true of chemistry. Very early on I could see that I was at the limit of my ability to help my son. So I called Chuck. Now, there's a boy who understood chemistry. We discussed that academically redemptive word "tutor". He did it and our son survived the "acid" test of chemistry.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Counting on Reinforcements."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 25:21 from the life of Isaac. Here's a man with a need that he cannot meet, and a problem he cannot solve. Here's what it says, "Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer and his wife, Rebekah, became pregnant." This is a very tender scene. Isaac is carrying his wife into the presence of God through prayer. And he says, "Lord, I'm bringing her to You to meet a need I cannot meet; to change something I cannot change."
It's most likely that someone you love has a need right now that you can't meet. For some reason the need or the person is beyond your reach. Maybe you can't meet the need because you're too far away, or you don't have the resources, or they're really not welcoming it. Maybe you need to have a word from God, and it's someone you can't see. Maybe they don't even know that what they're doing is wrong.
It's time to pull an Isaac. Let's put your name and their name in this verse. Here's your name. "_______ prayed for _______ (put their name in there), because (and you can put their need in there) something that they can't do; you can't do." So you are praying for whoever because of the need that they cannot meet.
The Bible says when Isaac did that the Lord answered that prayer and that's all we need to know. The Lord answered his prayer specifically for someone he loved. I know He'd love to do that for you. I mean, this is aggressive prayer. It's prevailing prayer. It's focused on this loved one. It's the most powerful action you can take on behalf of the person you love. It is fighting for them on your knees.
So you pray for the ability to see what God sees in them and in their situation. Pray that God will show you any way that you might be able to enter into the problem and help. Pray for a change of heart. Pray for the defeat of anything Satan's trying to do, for the miracle touch they need, for the victory of God's agenda in their life. But pray!
If we're not depending on God to do it through prayer, you know what we're going to do? We're going to either push too hard or we're going to give up too soon. If you push the person, you'll talk to them about the issue more than you've talked to God about it. And you'll probably either polarize the situation or postpone them ever dealing with it.
David Bryant says, "Prayer is love at war." It certainly ought to be. When you're coming to the living God on behalf of someone you love, remember praying is the most powerful, most aggressive action you can take on behalf of a loved one you know.
It turned out that outside help was the deciding factor for my son who was having a pretty tough time with chemistry. I wanted to help, but the need was beyond me. But not beyond the resources of the reinforcement I called in.
So, you are at the edge of you, trying to help or trying to change someone you care about. You can't talk it done, you can't nag it done, you can't plan it done, you can't manipulate it done, you can't worry it done. But you can pray it done. Turn up the prayer heat beginning today. If you're already crying out to God and depending totally on Him to do it, then claim Galatians 6:9, "Be not weary in well doing. For in due season you will reap if you do not faint."
We're probably talking about a miracle you need and only God does miracles. So storm the gates of heaven on behalf of someone you love and you expect a miracle.
