Max Lucado Daily: THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
We are frail creatures. We are not made of steel, we’re made from dust. And this life is not crowned with life, it is crowned with death. The next life, however, is different! In Revelation 2:10, Jesus urged the Christians in Smyrna to “be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life.”
You will also receive the crown of righteousness. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. And now there is waiting for me, the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord will give me on that Day and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.”
Set your heart on that day. Crowned with life. Crowned with righteousness. Forever!
From When Christ Comes
Exodus 35
Building the Place of Worship
Moses spoke to the entire congregation of Israel, saying, “These are the things that God has commanded you to do:
2-3 “Work six days, but the seventh day will be a holy rest day, God’s holy rest day. Anyone who works on this day must be put to death. Don’t light any fires in your homes on the Sabbath day.”
The Offerings
4 Moses spoke to the entire congregation of Israel, saying, “This is what God has commanded:
5-9 “Gather from among you an offering for God. Receive on God’s behalf what everyone is willing to give as an offering: gold, silver, bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet material; fine linen; goats’ hair; tanned rams’ skins; dolphin skins; acacia wood; lamp oil; spices for anointing oils and for fragrant incense; onyx stones and other stones for setting in the Ephod and the Breastpiece.
10-19 “Come—all of you who have skills—come and make everything that God has commanded: The Dwelling with its tent and cover, its hooks, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases; the Chest with its poles, the Atonement-Cover and veiling curtain; the Table with its poles and implements and the Bread of the Presence; the Lampstand for giving light with its furnishings and lamps and the oil for lighting; the Altar of Incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense; the screen for the door at the entrance to The Dwelling; the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering with its bronze grate and poles and all its implements; the Washbasin with its base; the tapestry hangings for the Courtyard with the posts and bases, the screen for the Courtyard gate; the pegs for The Dwelling, the pegs for the Courtyard with their cords; the official vestments for ministering in the Holy Place, the sacred vestments for Aaron the priest and for his sons serving as priests.”
20-26 So everyone in the community of Israel left the presence of Moses. Then they came back, every one whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely responsive, bringing offerings to God for building the Tent of Meeting, furnishing it for worship and making the holy vestments. They came, both men and women, all the willing spirits among them, offering brooches, earrings, rings, necklaces—anything made of gold—offering up their gold jewelry to God. And anyone who had blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics; fine linen; goats’ hair; tanned leather; and dolphin skins brought them. Everyone who wanted to offer up silver or bronze as a gift to God brought it. Everyone who had acacia wood that could be used in the work, brought it. All the women skilled at weaving brought their weavings of blue and purple and scarlet fabrics and their fine linens. And all the women who were gifted in spinning, spun the goats’ hair.
27-29 The leaders brought onyx and other precious stones for setting in the Ephod and the Breastpiece. They also brought spices and olive oil for lamp oil, anointing oil, and incense. Every man and woman in Israel whose heart moved them freely to bring something for the work that God through Moses had commanded them to make, brought it, a voluntary offering for God.
Bezalel and Oholiab
30-35 Moses told the Israelites, “See, God has selected Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He’s filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and know-how for making all sorts of things, to design and work in gold, silver, and bronze; to carve stones and set them; to carve wood, working in every kind of skilled craft. And he’s also made him a teacher, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He’s gifted them with the know-how needed for carving, designing, weaving, and embroidering in blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics, and in fine linen. They can make anything and design anything.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Read: Psalm 25:1–11
Of David.
1 In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.
2 I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Footnotes:
Psalm 25:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
INSIGHT
God’s desire to cleanse us of our sins should be matched by our desire for that cleansing. In Psalm 139 David reflects, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23–24). His prayer expresses a longing for the cleansing and restoration that can only come from God. John echoes that invitation in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” And Jesus Himself stands ready to help. John wrote, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). What a great promise!
Is unconfessed sin hindering your relationship with the Father? He stands ready to forgive!
Revealed to Be Healed
By David H. Roper
Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Psalm 25:4
As a boy, I watched my father plow fields that had never been cultivated. On the first pass the plowshare would turn up large rocks that he hauled away. Then, he would plow the field again, and then again, to further break up the soil. With each pass the plow turned up other, smaller rocks that he cast aside. The process continued, requiring many passes through the field.
Growth in grace can look like a similar process. When we first become believers, some “big” sins may be exposed. We confess them to God and accept His forgiveness. But as the years pass by, and as God’s Word passes through us and sinks into our innermost being, the Holy Spirit brings other sins to the surface. Sins of the spirit once thought to be mere peccadilloes—small, seemingly unimportant offenses—are revealed as ugly, ruinous attitudes and actions. Sins like pride, self-pity, complaining, pettiness, prejudice, spite, self-serving indulgence.
Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Psalm 25:4
God reveals each sin so He can cast it aside. He reveals to heal. When harmful hidden attitudes come to the surface, we can pray as the psalmist David did, “For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great” (Psalm 25:11).
Humbling exposure, though painful, is good for the soul. It’s one of the ways in which He “instructs sinners in his ways.” He “guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way” (vv. 8–9).
Thank You, Lord, that You remember us according to Your love. Instruct us and guide us. Teach us to live as those who have been forgiven much.
Jesus takes us as we are and makes us what we should be.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 15, 2018
The Discipline of Dismay
As they followed they were afraid. —Mark 10:32
At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to forsake everything else and to throw ourselves before Him in a fearless statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar— “Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed” (Mark 10:32).
There is an aspect of Jesus that chills even a disciple’s heart to its depth and makes his entire spiritual life gasp for air. This unusual Person with His face set “like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7) is walking with great determination ahead of me, and He strikes terror right through me. He no longer seems to be my Counselor and Friend and has a point of view about which I know nothing. All I can do is stand and stare at Him in amazement. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.
Jesus Christ had to understand fully every sin and sorrow that human beings could experience, and that is what makes Him seem unfamiliar. When we see this aspect of Him, we realize we really don’t know Him. We don’t recognize even one characteristic of His life, and we don’t know how to begin to follow Him. He is far ahead of us, a Leader who seems totally unfamiliar, and we have no friendship with Him.
The discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see Isaiah 50:10-11). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child. Not Knowing Whither, 882 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Yellow Ribbons and Undying Hope - #8134
Some years ago when three American soldiers were held as prisoners in Yugoslavia during the Kosovo crisis, their loved ones in the United States tied yellow ribbons around the trees in front of their homes. We've seen yellow ribbons before when loved ones are being held prisoner. I think my first recollection of seeing them was during the Iran hostage crisis yeas ago when the American embassy staff in Iran was held hostage for many months. Now, the people who loved those being held hostage tied these yellow ribbons around the trees in their yards and they wouldn't take them down. The yellow ribbons were a symbol of their hope that the one they loved would be back home. And when those hostages finally did come home, man, there were yellow ribbons everywhere!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Yellow Ribbons and Undying Hope."
Now, it may be that someone you love is a prisoner of war - the spiritual war that is raging for every soul, the battle between Christ, the life-giver, and Satan, the life-taker. It could be that someone you care about is, in a spiritual sense, being held as a prisoner of war by the enemy. Someone who knows Christ but they're away from him, or maybe someone who doesn't know Christ and seems like will never come around.
Like those people who hung those yellow ribbons, you need to keep your hope alive for the return of the one who's a spiritual captive right now. Why? Because of the wonderful promise of Jesus in our word for today in Matthew 18 beginning at verse 12. "If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one who has wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost."
Now, Jesus is in pursuit of the one you love who is away from Him. Active pursuit. Aggressive pursuit. He is, as that classic poem says, "the Hound of Heaven." And even though your loved one doesn't know they're a prisoner, even though their heart seems to be getting harder and harder, even though the battle for their soul has gone on for a long, long time, Jesus knows how to bring that dear one home. He's moving people and circumstances around so they'll end up face-to-face with Him. He'll bring them home, not you. You just keep loving them, just keep believing God for them, and don't try to pursue them yourself with spiritual nagging.
Don't take your yellow ribbon down. Don't give up hope. There may not be much visible reason for hope, but your hope is based on the promise of the most powerful Person in the universe - that He is passionately pursuing the one you love. The rescue team has been dispatched from heaven on their behalf. You can't see what God is doing, but you can be sure He is throwing everything into the rescue operation that you have prayed about so many times.
So don't stop pouring out your heart in prayer for your prisoner of war. Don't lose faith in the power of your Savior's stubborn love to change their heart. That son who's away, that daughter, that grandchild, your mom or dad, your husband, your wife, your sibling, your friend, Jesus knows exactly how to find them and how to bring them home no matter how long it takes. But He responds to our faith, so don't stop believing God for their rescue. Jesus taught us, according to Luke 18:1, to "always pray and not give up."
After the days of heartache and waiting, trust God for that glorious day when the prisoner of war you love will be gloriously welcomed home.
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