Max Lucado Daily: A Father to the Fatherless
Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” A glimpse of God’s goodness changes us. If He is only slightly stronger than us, why pray? If He has limitations, questions, and hesitations, then you might as well pray to the Wizard of Oz.
Psalm 68:5-6 says God is “a father to the fatherless. He sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity.”
Pray with me: Dear God. Today remind me that you protect me. Be my father and defender. Defend those who are weak and afraid and feel forgotten. Show up in their lives today. Thank you for giving me a spiritual family that can never be taken away. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
At any point, you are only a prayer away from help!
Before Amen
Numbers 1
Registration of Israel’s Troops
A year after Israel’s departure from Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle[a] in the wilderness of Sinai. On the first day of the second month[b] of that year he said, 2 “From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families. List all the men 3 twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron must register the troops, 4 and you will be assisted by one family leader from each tribe.
5 “These are the tribes and the names of the leaders who will assist you:
Tribe Leader
Reuben Elizur son of Shedeur
6 Simeon Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai
7 Judah Nahshon son of Amminadab
8 Issachar Nethanel son of Zuar
9 Zebulun Eliab son of Helon
10 Ephraim son of Joseph Elishama son of Ammihud
Manasseh son of Joseph Gamaliel son of Pedahzur
11 Benjamin Abidan son of Gideoni
12 Dan Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai
13 Asher Pagiel son of Ocran
14 Gad Eliasaph son of Deuel
15 Naphtali Ahira son of Enan
16 These are the chosen leaders of the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.”
17 So Moses and Aaron called together these chosen leaders, 18 and they assembled the whole community of Israel on that very day.[c] All the people were registered according to their ancestry by their clans and families. The men of Israel who were twenty years old or older were listed one by one, 19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. So Moses recorded their names in the wilderness of Sinai.
20-21 This is the number of men twenty years old or older who were able to go to war, as their names were listed in the records of their clans and families[d]:
Tribe Number
Reuben (Jacob’s[e] oldest son) 46,500
22-23 Simeon 59,300
24-25 Gad 45,650
26-27 Judah 74,600
28-29 Issachar 54,400
30-31 Zebulun 57,400
32-33 Ephraim son of Joseph 40,500
34-35 Manasseh son of Joseph 32,200
36-37 Benjamin 35,400
38-39 Dan 62,700
40-41 Asher 41,500
42-43 Naphtali 53,400
44 These were the men registered by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, all listed according to their ancestral descent. 45 They were registered by families—all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older and able to go to war. 46 The total number was 603,550.
47 But this total did not include the Levites. 48 For the Lord had said to Moses, 49 “Do not include the tribe of Levi in the registration; do not count them with the rest of the Israelites. 50 Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant,[f] along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it. 51 Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death. 52 Each tribe of Israel will camp in a designated area with its own family banner. 53 But the Levites will camp around the Tabernacle of the Covenant to protect the community of Israel from the Lord’s anger. The Levites are responsible to stand guard around the Tabernacle.”
54 So the Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 27, 2014
Read: Luke 15:3-7
So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
Insight
In Luke 15, Jesus delivers a trilogy of parables to describe the pursuing love of God for the lost. The first, seen here in verses 3-7, displays the shepherd desperately pursuing his lost sheep. The second, in verses 8-10, pictures a woman tenaciously searching for a lost coin. The third, in verses 11-32, tells of a father’s compassion for a wayward child and of his grace and forgiveness when that prodigal returns home. In each parable, the result of finding the lost is a celebration (vv.6,9,22-24) that depicts the great joy experienced in heaven when the lost return to their heavenly Father.
New To The Family
By Dave Branon
There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. —Luke 15:7
While on a ministry trip with a Christian high school chorale to Jamaica, we witnessed an illustration of God’s love in action. On the day we visited an orphanage for disabled children and teens, we learned that Donald, one of the boys our kids had interacted with—a teen with cerebral palsy—was going to be adopted.
When the adopting couple arrived at the “base” where we were staying, it was a joy to talk to them about Donald. But what was even better was what happened later. We were at the base when Donald and his new parents arrived just after they had picked him up at the orphanage. As the brand-new mom embraced her son, our students gathered around her and sang praise songs. Tears flowed. Tears of joy. And Donald was beaming!
Later, one of the students said to me, “This reminds me of what it must be like in heaven when someone is saved. The angels rejoice because someone has been adopted into God’s family.” Indeed, it was a picture of the joy of heaven when someone new joins God’s forever family by faith in Christ. Jesus spoke of that grand moment when He said, “There will be . . . joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7).
Praise God that He has adopted us into His family. No wonder the angels rejoice!
The One who made the heavens,
Who died on Calvary,
Rejoices with His angels
When one soul is set free. —Fasick
Angels rejoice when we repent.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 27, 2014
The Method of Missions
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . —Matthew 28:19
Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go . . . make disciples of all the nations . . . .” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me . . . . Gotherefore. . .” (Matthew 28:18-19).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 27, 2014
Beating Your Boomer - #7251
I guess every neighborhood has its' bully. When I was growing up, our neighborhood sure did-Boomer! I'm not making that up. That was his name! This guy made all of us little kids in the neighborhood his victims. He'd beat us up, he'd tower over us, he'd threaten us, he'd take our stuff. One day I'd had enough! I was little and he was big. But I marched all the way down our little block on the south side of Chicago. I went up the steps on that back porch, and man, I pounded on the screen door there. Boomer came to the door. I said, "Boomer, I want my stuff back!" He said, "Man, you're a brave little kid." Well, he didn't really say that, but you probably said, "Well, Ron, I really underestimated you." Yeah, there was one thing I forgot to tell you. My Father went with me. That made a very big difference. Like this: Boomer was bigger than I was, but my Father was bigger than Boomer was.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beating Your Boomer."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy chapter 1, and we're finding here that God's ancient people are being terrorized and frightened by the Boomers in their world. They have scouted out the Promised Land that God wants to give them; that He promised to give them. They've come back and said, "The people are strong and tall. They are taller than we are. The cities are large with walls that go up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites; those giant people. Nobody goes against them. We saw them there."
Now, I don't know what your Boomer is, your giants, your walls. It could be a challenge or a problem that you're facing right now that's just a lot bigger than you are or your resources are. Well, here's the reaction of these people. "You were unwilling to go up" the Lord says. "You rebelled against the command of the Lord your God because of how big the giants were."
They could have had the Promised Land. Instead they got the wilderness; wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Chapter 1, verse 29, "Then I said, ‘Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as He did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.'" Then He says, "You were unwilling to trust."
"Look who's going with you" He said, "the Lord your God." And he reviewed five promises to His people; for any of His people who are following His lead into something difficult and challenging; five worries that could keep us from going for it. First of all it says, "The Lord your God will fight for you." In other words, you don't have to fear your enemy. "I am bigger than your enemy even if he's bigger than you are."
Secondly, He says, "The Lord your God is going before you." "I'll get where you're going even before you get there" is what he's saying. No fear of the unknown; there's no unknown to Him. He's already there getting it ready. Then He said, "I will carry you." That means that when you run out, He'll still be carrying you. There's no fear of your inadequacy because it's all about His adequacy.
Then He says, "I will search out places for you to camp." There's no fear about your location. He says, "I'll get you a spot. Don't worry." And finally He says, "I will show you the way you should go." There's no fear of getting lost on the way. He promises His guidance.
But they made this tragic mistake, "You did not trust in the Lord your God." See, you can miss the place to which all the journey has been leading you if you don't move out in total trust that your God will fight for you. Why don't you move boldly into the, I call it "God alone zone" where God alone could do this.
After all, whatever is bigger than you are, your Father is bigger than it is.