Max Lucado Daily: Prayer Wimps Anonymous
I'm a card carrying member of the PWA: Prayer Wimps Anonymous. Can you relate? We pray-we pray to stay sober, centered, solvent. We pray when the lump is deemed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. We all pray-some.
But wouldn't we like to pray more? Like the disciples when they asked Jesus, "Teach us to pray!" Teach us to find strength in prayer. To banish fear in prayer.
Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and you! A prayer as simple as this one:
Father, You are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me.
They need help. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Pray for 4 weeks, 4 minutes every day. Sign on at BeforeAmen.com and get ready to connect with God like never before!
Before Amen
Numbers 2
Organization for Israel’s Camp
Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses and Aaron: 2 “When the Israelites set up camp, each tribe will be assigned its own area. The tribal divisions will camp beneath their family banners on all four sides of the Tabernacle,[g] but at some distance from it.
3-4 “The divisions of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun are to camp toward the sunrise on the east side of the Tabernacle, beneath their family banners. These are the names of the tribes, their leaders, and the numbers of their registered troops:
Tribe Leader Number
Judah Nahshon son of Amminadab 74,600
5-6 Issachar Nethanel son of Zuar 54,400
7-8 Zebulun Eliab son of Helon 57,400
9 So the total of all the troops on Judah’s side of the camp is 186,400. These three tribes are to lead the way whenever the Israelites travel to a new campsite.
10-11 “The divisions of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad are to camp on the south side of the Tabernacle, beneath their family banners. These are the names of the tribes, their leaders, and the numbers of their registered troops:
Tribe Leader Number
Reuben Elizur son of Shedeur 46,500
12-13 Simeon Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai 59,300
14-15 Gad Eliasaph son of Deuel[h] 45,650
16 So the total of all the troops on Reuben’s side of the camp is 151,450. These three tribes will be second in line whenever the Israelites travel.
17 “Then the Tabernacle, carried by the Levites, will set out from the middle of the camp. All the tribes are to travel in the same order that they camp, each in position under the appropriate family banner.
18-19 “The divisions of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin are to camp on the west side of the Tabernacle, beneath their family banners. These are the names of the tribes, their leaders, and the numbers of their registered troops:
Tribe Leader Number
Ephraim Elishama son of Ammihud 40,500
20-21 Manasseh Gamaliel son of Pedahzur 32,200
22-23 Benjamin Abidan son of Gideoni 35,400
24 So the total of all the troops on Ephraim’s side of the camp is 108,100. These three tribes will be third in line whenever the Israelites travel.
25-26 “The divisions of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali are to camp on the north side of the Tabernacle, beneath their family banners. These are the names of the tribes, their leaders, and the numbers of their registered troops:
Tribe Leader Number
Dan Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai 62,700
27-28 Asher Pagiel son of Ocran 41,500
29-30 Naphtali Ahira son of Enan 53,400
31 So the total of all the troops on Dan’s side of the camp is 157,600. These three tribes will be last, marching under their banners whenever the Israelites travel.”
32 In summary, the troops of Israel listed by their families totaled 603,550. 33 But as the Lord had commanded, the Levites were not included in this registration. 34 So the people of Israel did everything as the Lord had commanded Moses. Each clan and family set up camp and marched under their banners exactly as the Lord had instructed them.
2:2 Hebrew the Tent of Meeting; also in 2:17.
2:14-15 As in many Hebrew manuscripts, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Latin Vulgate (see also 1:14); most Hebrew manuscripts read son of Reuel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Read: Ecclesiastes 5:10-17
Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! 11 The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!
12 People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.
13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. 14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. 15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. 17 Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
Insight
The book of Ecclesiastes is often viewed with skepticism, and its message is considered dark and hopeless. Today’s passage exemplifies much of the book—the emptiness of riches and the transitory nature of things of this earth. But as with many great stories, this book saves the best for last. After all the reflections and lessons learned, the writer’s final conclusion is to “fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (12:13). The things of God are what truly matter.
Working For The Wind
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
What profit has he who has labored for the wind? —Ecclesiastes 5:16
Howard Levitt lost his $200,000 Ferrari on a flooded Toronto highway. He had driven into what seemed like a puddle before realizing that the water was much deeper and rising quickly. When the water reached the Ferrari’s fenders, its 450-horsepower engine seized. Thankfully he was able to escape the car and get to high ground.
Howard’s soggy sports car reminds me of Solomon’s observation that “riches perish through misfortune” (Eccl. 5:14). Natural disasters, theft, and accidents may claim our dearest belongings. Even if we manage to protect them, we certainly can’t haul them with us to heaven (v.15). Solomon asked, “What profit has he who has labored for the wind?” (v.16). There is futility in working only to acquire belongings that will ultimately disappear.
There is something that doesn’t spoil and we can “take with us.” It is possible to store up eternal heavenly treasure. Pursuing virtues such as generosity (Matt. 19:21), humility (5:3), and spiritual endurance (Luke 6:22-23) will yield lasting rewards that can’t be destroyed. Will the kind of treasure you seek expire on earth? Or, are you seeking “those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God”? (Col. 3:1).
Dear God, please give me a passion for the
unseen, eternal rewards that You offer.
Make me indifferent to the temporary
pleasures of this world.
Treasures on earth can’t compare with the treasures in heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life —Romans 5:10
I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
THE SENIORITIS VACCINE - #7252
Well, I watched three of our children run on this track called high school senior. Oh we know about the disease. It's a creeping disease called senioritis. I've seen it for years in other teenagers, and then finally we got to watch it in our own home. It begins with the sense of "Okay, I'm a senior now! High school is my past. I don't care about high school any more even though I have another year." At best a senior just sort of slacks off until graduation. Or at worst, he or she becomes irresponsible and maybe even destructive. Senioritis? It doesn't bring out the best in anybody at any age.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Senioritis Vaccine."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Jeremiah chapter 29. The Jews are no longer in their homeland of Judah. They've been carried away into captivity in Babylon. Here's the situation where it would be very easy for them to have spiritual senioritis, because they know that they will one day return to their native country. They know God has them in Babylon for their disobedience. They kind of live in-between Babylon and returning to Israel.
They could be saying, "Hey, who cares about Babylon? Put it on cruise control. We're not here for long. We're going home in a little while. What we do here doesn't matter." Listen to God's advice for them in Jeremiah 29:5, probably surprising advice for them. "Build houses and settle down." I can hear them going, "Here? We're just living in-between."
He says, "Build houses, settle down, plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. Give your daughters in marriage so they, too, may have sons and daughters. Increase in number. Do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers you will prosper."
Seems like God's saying, "Make something of this time, guys. Don't have senioritis and act like it doesn't matter." It's like old Caleb in the Old Testament. Eighty-five years old and he's still not going to quit. He says, "Lord, give me this mountain to conquer!" Boy, there's no senioritis there.
Maybe you're at an age or a situation where you're tempted to put your life on cruise. Maybe you're waiting for the next stage, or you're just waiting for heaven. Well, don't sit there and say, "I don't care much about where I am." God is saying, "I want you to care. Bloom where you're planted, my child. Make this count."
A while back I met a dear 80-year-old woman. She said to me, "Ron, I was married to the same man for 60 years. He took great care of me." Then she went on to tell me how he had died the previous year. And she said, "It's so easy for me to be bitter, and I could be desperately lonely." But then she said, "You know, this week as I listened to you at this conference, I've decided I'm going to reach out on my own. I'm in this condominium filled with lonely people, and I'm going to go back there and I'm going to start writing notes to those people, and I'm going to bake for them, and I'm going to visit them. I'm going to share God's love with them." She said, "I'm going to start giving my life away."
I said, "Well, you know what? That's what the Bible says about how you find your life by giving it away." She said, "Well, I figured my Mother died at the age of 88. So I've got at least eight years to make a difference." I love that! She's going to find her life by giving it away. That is the vaccine for senioritis; for not caring. Get a mission for yourself. You're surrounded by needs. Get some people who need you. That's the best way to find your life.
Wherever you are, look for a mission. Look for an assignment from God. Wake up in the morning and say, "God, who needs me here?" Don't slow down! Don't hold back! Capture the corner that you're in for Christ. When you're living for Jesus, there's just not a day you can afford to waste.