Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS FAITHFUL
Our God is a promise-keeping God? Others may make a promise and forget it. But if God makes a promise, he keeps it. The Book of Hebrews announces, “God has given both his promise and his oath” (Hebrews 6:18). The scripture goes on to say, “He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
Does this matter? Does God’s integrity make a difference? Does his faithfulness come into play? When your daughter is on life support, it does. When you are pacing the ER floor, it does. When you are wondering what to do with your worst nightmare, you have to choose. Faith or fear, God’s purpose or random history, a God who knows and cares, or a God who isn’t there?
We all choose. Choose to trust God’s promises. Choose to believe that God is up to something good, even though all you see looks bad. Choose to believe because God is faithful!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 9
1-4 The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s reputation and came to Jerusalem to put his reputation to the test, asking all the tough questions. She made a showy entrance—an impressive retinue of attendants and camels loaded with perfume and much gold and precious stones. She emptied her heart to Solomon, talking over everything she cared about. And Solomon answered everything she put to him—nothing stumped him. When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon’s wisdom and saw with her own eyes the palace he had built, the meals that were served, the impressive array of court officials, the sharply dressed waiters, the cupbearers, and then the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt-Offerings at The Temple of God, it all took her breath away.
5-8 She said to the king, “It’s all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself; they didn’t exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance—far more than I could ever have imagined. Lucky the men and women who work for you, getting to be around you every day and hear your wise words firsthand! And blessed be your God who has taken such a liking to you, making you king. Clearly, God’s love for Israel is behind this, making you king to keep a just order and nurture a God-pleasing people.”
9-11 She then gave the king four and a half tons of gold and sack after sack of spices and precious stones. There hasn’t been a cargo of spices like the shipload the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon. The ships of Hiram also imported gold from Ophir along with fragrant sandalwood and expensive gems. The king used the sandalwood for fine cabinetry in The Temple of God and the royal palace, and for making harps and dulcimers for the musicians. Nothing like that shipment of sandalwood has been seen since.
12 King Solomon, for his part, gave the queen of Sheba all her heart’s desire—everything she asked for. She took away more than she brought. Satisfied, she returned home with her train of servants.
13-14 Solomon received twenty-five tons of gold annually. This was above and beyond the taxes and profit on trade with merchants and traders. All kings of Arabia and various and assorted governors also brought silver and gold to Solomon.
15-16 King Solomon crafted two hundred body-length shields of hammered gold—about fifteen pounds of gold to each shield—and about three hundred small shields about half that size. He stored the shields in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17-19 The king made a massive throne of ivory with a veneer of gold. The throne had six steps leading up to it with an attached footstool of gold. The armrests on each side were flanked by lions. Lions, twelve of them, were placed at either end of the six steps. There was no throne like it in any other kingdom.
20 King Solomon’s chalices and tankards were made of gold, and all the dinnerware and serving utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver; silver was considered common and cheap in the time of Solomon.
21 The king’s ships, manned by Hiram’s sailors, made a round trip to Tarshish every three years, returning with a cargo of gold, silver, and ivory, apes and peacocks.
22-24 King Solomon was richer and wiser than all the kings of the earth—he surpassed them all. Kings came from all over the world to be with Solomon and get in on the wisdom God had given him. Everyone who came brought gifts—artifacts of gold and silver, fashionable robes and gowns, the latest in weapons, exotic spices, horses, and mules—parades of visitors, year after year.
25-28 Solomon collected horses and chariots. He had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen in barracks in the chariot-cities and in Jerusalem. He ruled over all the kings from the River Euphrates in the east, throughout the Philistine country, and as far west as the border of Egypt. The king made silver as common as rocks and cedar as common as the fig trees in the lowland hills. He carried on a brisk horse-trading business with Egypt and other places.
29-31 The rest of Solomon’s life and rule, from start to finish, one can read in the records of Nathan the prophet, the prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat. Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. Solomon died and was buried in the City of David his father. His son Rehoboam was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Read: Exodus 13:17–22
It so happened that after Pharaoh released the people, God didn’t lead them by the road through the land of the Philistines, which was the shortest route, for God thought, “If the people encounter war, they’ll change their minds and go back to Egypt.”
18 So God led the people on the wilderness road, looping around to the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt in military formation.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the Israelites solemnly swear to do it, saying, “God will surely hold you accountable, so make sure you bring my bones from here with you.”
20-22 They moved on from Succoth and then camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness. God went ahead of them in a Pillar of Cloud during the day to guide them on the way, and at night in a Pillar of Fire to give them light; thus they could travel both day and night. The Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night never left the people.
INSIGHT:
In today’s passage we read that after the Israelites left Egypt, God led them “around by the desert road toward the Red Sea” (vv. 17–18).Though there were shorter routes, God led them a longer way around the desert and demonstrated His faithfulness and power. His faithful presence was with them in pillars of fire and cloud (vv. 21–22), and He demonstrated His power by His miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from the pursuing Egyptians (Ex. 14).
The Easy Road?
By Dave Branon
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. Exodus 13:17
Life’s path is often difficult. So if we expect that God will always give us an easy road, we may be tempted to turn our back on Him when the terrain gets tough.
If you’ve ever considered doing that, think about the people of Israel. When they were given freedom from the Egyptians after hundreds of years of bondage, they took off for the Promised Land. But God didn’t send them straight home. He “did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter” (Ex. 13:17). Instead He sent them on the hard road through the desert. In the short run, this helped them avoid wars (v. 17), but in the long run, there was something bigger at work.
Lord, encourage us, and teach us as we let You direct our path.
God used that time in the desert to instruct and mature the people He had called to follow Him. The easy road would have led them to disaster. The long road prepared the nation of Israel for their successful entry into the Promised Land.
Our God is faithful, and we can trust Him to lead us and care for us no matter what we face. We may not understand the reason for the path we are on, but we can trust Him to help us grow in faith and maturity along the way.
Lord, we cannot see the path ahead, so we must trust that the way is right and that it is the best road for us to take. Please encourage us, and teach us as we let You direct our path.
God’s timing is always right—wait patiently for Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church
…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… —Ephesians 4:13
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “…that I may know Him…” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.
My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Unappreciated But Beautiful - #7697
I kept telling my wife that I expected Tarzan or George of the Jungle to come swinging through our house at any moment. She had set up a corner of the house as her own personal little jungle to accommodate the new guests in our house-our orchids. She found some sources for orchids that were pretty reasonable, and she really enjoyed collecting them. They were very stately and lovely flowers.
I guess I learned then that they come in beautiful shades of lavender, purple, red, and yellow. (Please don't write to us and ask us about orchids. We don't know much about that.) My favorite gardener did the best she could to create the kind of conditions those delicate flowers are used to. They need warmth in the day, and they need cooler temps at night, light, pure water, and humidity. Orchids are tropical plants and they're often found in out-of-the-way places; which poses a fascinating scenario: millions of these spectacular flowers over many centuries, displaying this exotic beauty, growing where no one may have ever seen them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unappreciated But Beautiful."
Those orchids tell us something about what the Creator of all of us is like. He's extravagant in creating beauty deep in remote jungles, deep beneath the sea, where much of that beauty is never seen. That happens with people, too. In fact, there's probably someone listening right now who is a uniquely beautiful person-even though few, if any, have ever appreciated your beauty. An orchid doesn't need an admirer to be beautiful. Beauty unappreciated is beauty still the same.
God really did do something beautiful when He created you. First, because you're created in God's own image. The Bible tells us that "God created man in his own image...male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). The Bible goes on to say that God knit you together in your mother's womb. That's in Psalm 139 that you are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:13-14). You may not have been treated like you're a divine masterpiece (maybe you haven't even believed it yourself) but that doesn't change the fact that you are, because God only does masterpieces.
Unfortunately, we've all made the mistake of trying to find our worth in other things: a relationship, a marriage, our children, our friends, our success. But there's never enough love. There's never enough approval. Here's why. Colossians 1:16, our word for today from the Word of God, reveals that "...all things were created by Him and for Him." The "Him" is Jesus Christ. And you were created by Him and for Him. The Bible also makes it clear that we haven't lived for Him. It says, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). Our beauty, our worth are rooted in the One who made us. And we're away from Him because of a lifetime of self-serving and sinful choices.
I'm so thankful that God loved us too much to leave it that way. He launched a very costly rescue mission. He sent His only Son, Jesus, to actually lay down His life in exchange for ours. To put it simply, you did the sinning, but Jesus did the dying for it so you could cross that awful canyon – the sin canyon between you and God – and experience the love you were made for and the One who gave you your worth. Suddenly, with Him in your heart, you know who you are: someone worth so much to God that He made you in His image and He paid for you with His blood.
You've been looking for a long time for a love and worth that only Jesus Christ can give you. And today you can actually begin your personal relationship with Him and finally be complete. What it's going to take, though, is your act of faith; telling Jesus, "I'm pinning all my hopes on You and what You did when You died for me on the cross. I want to belong to You, Jesus, from this day on."
If that's what you want, then I want you to go to our website and let me help you there be sure you've begun your relationship with Him so you will never have to doubt that again. It's ANewStory.com.
When you find Jesus, you really find yourself, too. Because you discover how very loved you are.
