Max Lucado Daily: We are Ambassadors
This is the promise of prayer! We can change God’s mind! God’s ultimate will is inflexible, but the implementation of his will is not. He doesn’t change in his character and purpose, but he does alter his strategy because of the appeals of his children. After all, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “we are ambassadors” for the king. Ambassadors speak with the authority of the throne. If an ambassador sends a request to the king, will the king listen? If you, God’s ambassador in this world, come to your King with a request, will he listen? By all means.
Your sphere of influence is your region. As you grow in faith, your district expands. We plead with God on other people’s behalf. Before amen—comes the power of a simple prayer. “Father, they need help!”
From Before Amen
Numbers 21
Arad Destroyed
When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. 2 Then Israel made this vow to the Lord: “If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy[b] their cities.” 3 The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.[c]
The Bronze Snake
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,[d] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
The Journey to Moab
10 The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. 11 Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the sunrise. 12 From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley. 13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says:
“. . . Zahab[e] in Suphah and the ravines,
the Arnon 15 and[f] the slopes of the ravines
that lead to the settlement of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab.”
16 From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”
17 Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well!
Sing about it,
18 about the well that the princes dug,
that the nobles of the people sank—
the nobles with scepters and staffs.”
Then they went from the wilderness to Mattanah, 19 from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.
Defeat of Sihon and Og
21 Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites:
22 “Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”
23 But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the wilderness against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel. 24 Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified. 25 Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.
27 That is why the poets say:
“Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt;
let Sihon’s city be restored.
28 “Fire went out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the city of Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab,
the citizens of Arnon’s heights.
29 Woe to you, Moab!
You are destroyed, people of Chemosh!
He has given up his sons as fugitives
and his daughters as captives
to Sihon king of the Amorites.
30 “But we have overthrown them;
Heshbon’s dominion has been destroyed all the way to Dibon.
We have demolished them as far as Nophah,
which extends to Medeba.”
31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.
32 After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.”
35 So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 24, 2014
Read: 1 Peter 1:3-9
The Hope of Eternal Life
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
6 So be truly glad.[a] There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
Footnotes:
1:6 Or So you are truly glad.
Insight
The apostle Peter wrote his letters to a church that was enduring persecution for their faith. Though the “various trials” they were experiencing (1 Peter 1:6) may not be the same type of trials we must endure, the source of the strength to endure is the same. We are not alone in our trials, and our endurance in them is not due to our inner strength. It is God Himself who strengthens us to endure. We are kept by the power of God (v.5), so that our faith praises, honors, and glorifies Christ (v.7).
Hope In Suffering
By Julie Ackerman Link
In this [living hope] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. —1 Peter 1:6
When I opened my Bible to read Jeremiah 1 through 4, the subhead ascribed to the book startled me: “Hope in Time of Weeping.” I almost cried. The timing was perfect, as I was walking through a season of weeping over the death of my mom.
I felt much the same way after hearing my pastor’s sermon the day before. The title was “Joy in Suffering,” taken from 1 Peter 1:3-9. He gave us an illustration from his own life: the one-year anniversary of his father’s death. The sermon was meaningful for many, but for me it was a gift from God. These and other events were indications backed up by His Word that God would not leave me alone in my grief.
Even though the way of sorrow is hard, God sends reminders of His enduring presence. To the Israelites expelled from the Promised Land due to disobedience, God made His presence known by sending prophets like Jeremiah to offer them hope—hope for reconciliation through repentance. And to those He leads through times of testing, He shows His presence through a community of believers who “love one another fervently with a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22). These indications of God’s presence during trials on earth affirm God’s promise of the living hope awaiting us at the resurrection.
Does Jesus care when I’ve said goodbye
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks,
Is it aught to Him? Does He see? O yes, He cares! —Graeff
We need never be ashamed of our tears. —Dickens
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 24, 2014
Direction of Focus
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…, so our eyes look to the Lord our God… —Psalm 123:2
This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (see Isaiah 53:1). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We wrongfully think, “I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much, standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person.” We have to realize that no effort can be too high.
For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion— “Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?” Your “rational” friends come and say, “Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t hold up under the strain. And anyway, God doesn’t expect you to endure.” You respond by saying, “Well, I suppose I was expecting too much.” That sounds humble to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 24, 2014
Exclusive Use - #7271
Communicating across the miles these days is amazing and occasionally frustrating. Not too long ago, you would just call someone and if they weren't there you'd try later. And you'd have to do that from a land line. Well today, we've got smart phones, and laptops, and Face-Time, you can text, and leave a voice-mail, video chat.
It's helpful, but let's face it, sometimes it's frustrating. Now look, I admit, I'm Mr. Low Tech, so I'm amazed even by old school FAX machines. We use them every once in a while. You can transmit a letter or document on a phone line. Now I don't have to understand that, I just think it's great!
But there are glitches. Someone gave me a phone number once that I needed, so I dialed it and it rang. This high-pitched squeal suddenly hits my ear. I said, "What is wrong? What happened to the phone, is it out of order?" No, it was the number for this man's FAX line. You've probably had that happen. It's not a telephone line where you just make calls. No, you send FAXs on it. That's what it's for, that's all it's for. So I just got this squeal back. Like a lot of people, there's this one phone line that is totally for receiving FAXs. We have that in our office. It's not designed to have a conversation with guys like me. It won't work for phone calls. It's called a dedicated line; as I discovered with an ear full of squealing. A dedicated line is for only one purpose.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have WORD WITH YOU today about "Exclusive Use."
Our word for today from the Word of God; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body." See, God says He purchased your life with the ultimate price-the life of His one and only Son. You're the property of God now.
When I was a kid, speakers always used to talk about dedicating your life. Well I got a new understanding of that since the advent of dedicated phone lines, FAX lines. It's designed to be used for only one purpose, like putting a reserve sign on a restaurant table. No one else can have this table. It can't be used for any other purpose than that to which it is dedicated.
God's Word is calling us here to dedicate our life to Jesus Christ on the basis of His total sacrifice for us. Revelation 5:9, "With Your blood, Jesus, you purchased men for God." My guess is you may have dedicated yourself to Jesus at least officially at some point in your life, but is that working out in your everyday life today? Who gets the best of your energy, the best of your time, the best of your love, the best of your resources? Well that's what you're really dedicated to. Not what your Christianese talk says.
A lot of people who were paid for by Jesus are actually dedicated to another purpose and to another owner. Like maybe you're dedicated to your business, your friends, your hormones. Maybe you've been taken over by your recreation, by TV, by sports, by your search for a mate. Maybe you're really controlled by the pain of the past or your anger, your bitterness, your ambition, your pride. Whatever it is, it didn't and it wouldn't die for you. Nobody loves you like Jesus. Nobody else can have your allegiance, your best.
You were created for the exclusive use of the One who purchased you with His blood to be used for what He wants to accomplish where you work, and where you go to school, and where you live, and what you do with your money, and what you own, and what you watch, what you listen to. I learned from a squealing phone that things just don't work right when they're not used for what they're supposed to be for.
Maybe there was a time when you dedicated your life to Jesus, but time has passed and now you're really reserved mostly for someone or something else aren't you? It isn't working, I know. The noise in your soul tells you you're supposed to be dedicated to your Lord Jesus Christ. This is your day to decide, or to decide again, who you are dedicated to.
Here's a suggestion: Make it the One who loves you the most; whose sacrifice was for you, who can do the most with your life, who you're going to be with forever. That would be Jesus.
