, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Stop the Frenzy
Attempts at self-salvation guarantee nothing but exhaustion! We scamper and scurry, trying to please God, collecting merit badges and brownie points, and scowling at anyone who questions our accomplishments. Call us the church of hound-dog faces and slumped shoulders.
Stop it! Once and for all, enough of this frenzy. Hebrews 13:9 says, "Your hearts should be strengthened by God's grace, not by obeying rules."
Jesus doesn't say, "Come to me, all you who are perfect and sinless." Just the opposite. He says, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."
There is no fine print. God's promise has no hidden language. Let grace happen, for heaven's sake. No more performing for God. Of all the things you must earn in life, God's unending affection isn't one of them. You have it! You can rest now.
From GRACE
Joshua 19
The Land Given to Simeon
The second allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Simeon. Their homeland was surrounded by Judah’s territory.
2 Simeon’s homeland included Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, 3 Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, 6 Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen towns with their surrounding villages. 7 It also included Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four towns with their villages, 8 including all the surrounding villages as far south as Baalath-beer (also known as Ramah of the Negev).
This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Simeon. 9 Their allocation of land came from part of what had been given to Judah because Judah’s territory was too large for them. So the tribe of Simeon received an allocation within the territory of Judah.
The Land Given to Zebulun
10 The third allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Zebulun.
The boundary of Zebulun’s homeland started at Sarid. 11 From there it went west, going past Maralah, touching Dabbesheth, and proceeding to the brook east of Jokneam. 12 In the other direction, the boundary went east from Sarid to the border of Kisloth-tabor, and from there to Daberath and up to Japhia. 13 Then it continued east to Gath-hepher, Eth-kazin, and Rimmon and turned toward Neah. 14 The northern boundary of Zebulun passed Hannathon and ended at the valley of Iphtah-el. 15 The towns in these areas included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve towns with their surrounding villages.
16 The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Zebulun included these towns and their surrounding villages.
The Land Given to Issachar
17 The fourth allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Issachar.
18 Its boundaries included the following towns: Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem, 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. 22 The boundary also touched Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, ending at the Jordan River—sixteen towns with their surrounding villages.
23 The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Issachar included these towns and their surrounding villages.
The Land Given to Asher
24 The fifth allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Asher.
25 Its boundaries included these towns: Helkath, Hali, Beten, Acshaph, 26 Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. The boundary on the west touched Carmel and Shihor-libnath, 27 then it turned east toward Beth-dagon, and ran as far as Zebulun in the valley of Iphtah-el, going north to Beth-emek and Neiel. It then continued north to Cabul, 28 Abdon,[a] Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, and as far as Greater Sidon. 29 Then the boundary turned toward Ramah and the fortress of Tyre, where it turned toward Hosah and came to the Mediterranean Sea.[b] The territory also included Mehebel, Aczib, 30 Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—twenty-two towns with their surrounding villages.
31 The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Asher included these towns and their surrounding villages.
The Land Given to Naphtali
32 The sixth allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Naphtali.
33 Its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak at Zaanannim, and extended across to Adami-nekeb, Jabneel, and as far as Lakkum, ending at the Jordan River. 34 The western boundary ran past Aznoth-tabor, then to Hukkok, and touched the border of Zebulun in the south, the border of Asher on the west, and the Jordan River[c] on the east. 35 The fortified towns included in this territory were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth, 36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37 Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, 38 Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen towns with their surrounding villages.
39 The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Naphtali included these towns and their surrounding villages.
The Land Given to Dan
40 The seventh allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Dan.
41 The land allocated as their homeland included the following towns: Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, 46 Me-jarkon, Rakkon, and the territory across from Joppa.
47 But the tribe of Dan had trouble taking possession of their land,[d] so they attacked the town of Laish.[e] They captured it, slaughtered its people, and settled there. They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor.
48 The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Dan included these towns and their surrounding villages.
The Land Given to Joshua
49 After all the land was divided among the tribes, the Israelites gave a piece of land to Joshua as his allocation. 50 For the Lord had said he could have any town he wanted. He chose Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He rebuilt the town and lived there.
51 These are the territories that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders allocated as grants of land to the tribes of Israel by casting sacred lots in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle[f] at Shiloh. So the division of the land was completed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Read: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
Believers Should Stand Firm
As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first[a] to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, 17 comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.
Footnotes:
2:13 Some manuscripts read chose you from the very beginning.
INSIGHT: In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he assured the believers that they were loved by God and chosen (1:4 niv). In today’s reading, Paul reiterates this by saying, “God from the beginning chose you for salvation” (v.13). That God “chooses” people is taught in Scripture (Deut. 7:6-8; Isa. 44:1-2; Rom. 8:28-33; 9:11; Eph. 1:4-6,11; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1-2). Although a person is “chosen” before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4-5; 2 Tim. 1:9), this becomes evident in life when one believes in the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 2:13-14).
His Choice
By Joe Stowell
God from the beginning chose you for salvation. —2 Thessalonians 2:13
When our children were small, I often prayed with them after we tucked them into bed. But before I prayed, I sometimes would sit on the edge of the bed and talk with them. I remember telling our daughter Libby, “If I could line up all the 4-year-old girls in the world, I would walk down the line looking for you. After going through the entire line, I would choose you to be my daughter.” That always put a big smile on Libby’s face because she knew she was special.
If that was a smile-worthy moment for her, think of the grace-filled fact that the Creator-God of the universe “from the beginning chose you for salvation” (2 Thess. 2:13). Before time began, He desired to make you His own. This is why Scripture often uses the picture of adoption to communicate the amazing reality that, through no merit or worthiness of our own, we have been chosen by Him.
This is stunning news! We are “beloved by the Lord” (v.13) and enjoy the benefits of being part of His family. This glorious truth should fill our lives with humility and gratitude. “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us . . . establish you in every good word and work” (vv.16-17).
I will be forever grateful that I am Your child,
Father, and that You love me! Teach me to remember
all the benefits of belonging to You, and may I
serve You faithfully as part of Your family.
It’s God’s choice to love you and to make you part of His family.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
The Destitution of Service
…though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. —2 Corinthians 12:15
Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, “It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.
The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out-socialized” the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Four Ways to Beat What Keeps Beating You - #7338
I was with two friends returning from some Native American ministry in the Southwest, and we had a rental car and a four-hour drive to the airport in Phoenix. So we really needed every minute to make our connection, which made the lurch in our car pretty annoying. See, every time the driver would get the speed up to about 60, the car would start shuttering and lurching. Now, there was a 75mph speed limit, and that's frustrating. We weren't sure we'd even make it with that "shake, rattle, and roll" mobile we had.
Well, everyone who knows me knows that I'm not exactly a mechanic. But I did have a scientific idea. I said, "Hey, did you check the emergency brake?" Answer: "No." From that point on we flew to Phoenix! No more lurching, but first we had to release what was holding us back.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Four Ways to Beat What Keeps Beating You."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 12:1. It's not about driving full speed, but the same idea - running full speed. "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."
Okay, let's focus a minute on that "everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." It makes me think about our lurching drive with the emergency brake on. We had the capability of going a lot faster than we were going, but first we had to release what was holding us back.
Seeing something like that is what will literally unleash your life to be all God needs for it to be; all you want it to be. Every one of us has a fatal flaw. Those fatal flaws are those weaknesses, those sins that just keep recurring. They have become part of us. They're part of who we are most of our lives. It's our way of getting our way, it's our way of meeting needs. Often it's something we grew up on, weaknesses maybe our Dad or our Mom had. We picked it up just because we grew up in that environment.
You might be so used to that sinful attitude or mindset or action it's almost second nature to you. It's just something you've accepted as part of you. This sinful flaw, it's your emergency break holding you back from going full speed. Our spiritual brakes? Well, that could be the way you handle money, or handle acceptance, or relationships, or problems, or stress. Whatever it is, it's sin that entangles.
The spiritual break-out comes when you decide not to accept that hindering sin any more, not to tolerate it any more. You're trying to drive with the brake on. And how do you release the spiritual emergency brake? The Bible says, "throw it off." The final discarding of it.
Then there are several steps; a process. First, you repent of that sin. That means you literally bring it to the cross of Jesus and you leave it there; feeling so bad about that sin that you now set up your life in such a way it's going to be very hard for you to do this any more. Then secondly, you release the sin. You admit to Jesus, "I'm powerless to beat this." You admit you've got a battle. You call it the sin that He calls it. And then each new day you surrender that weakness, that sin, to Jesus for Him to change it and control it those twenty-four hours.
Thirdly, you resist the sin. You run from any opportunity to do it, to feed it. You fight it at the very first moment it shows up. And finally, you restore what sin has damaged. Apologize to the people you've hurt, pay back anyone that you've wronged and make things right.
Those are powerful steps to getting free. Maybe you've never tasted that freedom before. That day in the lurching car, we made so much more progress when we realized what was holding us back and we dealt with it. Aren't you tired of this bumpy slowed-down trip you've been on? This might be your day to reach once and for all for the brake that has been holding you back and finally let it go.
