Max Lucado Daily: GOD MADE ONE VERSION OF YOU - June 1, 2018
Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa. Beethoven composed one Fifth Symphony. And God made one version of you! God custom-designed you for a one-of-a-kind assignment—“to each according to each one’s unique ability” (Matthew 25:15).
“The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Did the apostle Paul say, The Spirit has given some of us?…or a few of us? No! “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.”
You don’t have to do everything! You are not God’s solution to society, but you are a solution in society. Don’t worry about the skills you don’t have. Don’t covet the strengths others do have. Just extract your uniqueness—to God’s glory!
Read more Cure for the Common Life
Numbers 20
Camp Kadesh
In the first month, the entire company of the People of Israel arrived in the Wilderness of Zin. The people stayed in Kadesh.
Miriam died there, and she was buried.
2-5 There was no water there for the community, so they ganged up on Moses and Aaron. They attacked Moses: “We wish we’d died when the rest of our brothers died before God. Why did you haul this congregation of God out here into this wilderness to die, people and cattle alike? And why did you take us out of Egypt in the first place, dragging us into this miserable country? No grain, no figs, no grapevines, no pomegranates—and now not even any water!”
6 Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God.
7-8 God spoke to Moses: “Take the staff. Assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron. Speak to that rock that’s right in front of them and it will give water. You will bring water out of the rock for them; congregation and cattle will both drink.”
9-10 Moses took the staff away from God’s presence, as commanded. He and Aaron rounded up the whole congregation in front of the rock. Moses spoke: “Listen, rebels! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?”
11 With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock—once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank.
12 God said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t trust me, didn’t treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two aren’t going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them.”
13 These were the Waters of Meribah (Bickering) where the People of Israel bickered with God, and he revealed himself as holy.
14-16 Moses sent emissaries from Kadesh to the king of Edom with this message: “A message from your brother Israel: You are familiar with all the trouble we’ve run into. Our ancestors went down to Egypt and lived there a long time. The Egyptians viciously abused both us and our ancestors. But when we cried out for help to God, he heard our cry. He sent an angel and got us out of Egypt. And now here we are at Kadesh, a town at the border of your land.
17 “Will you give us permission to cut across your land? We won’t trespass through your fields or orchards and we won’t drink out of your wells; we’ll keep to the main road, the King’s Road, straying neither right nor left until we’ve crossed your border.”
18 The king of Edom answered, “Not on your life. If you so much as set a foot on my land, I’ll kill you.”
19 The People of Israel said, “Look, we’ll stay on the main road. If we or our animals drink any water, we’ll pay you for it. We’re harmless—just a company of footsore travelers.”
20-21 He answered again: “No. You may not come through.” And Edom came out and blocked the way with a crowd of people brandishing weapons. Edom refused to let them cross through his land. So Israel had to detour around him.
Camp Hor
22 The People of Israel, the entire company, set out from Kadesh and traveled to Mount Hor.
23-26 God said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor at the border of Edom, “It’s time for Aaron to be gathered into the company of his ancestors. He will not enter the land I am giving to the People of Israel because you both rebelled against my orders at the Waters of Meribah. So take Aaron and his son Eleazar and lead them up Mount Hor. Remove Aaron’s clothes from him and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered there; Aaron will die.”
27-29 Moses obeyed God’s command. They climbed Mount Hor as the whole congregation watched. Moses took off Aaron’s clothes and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron died on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. The whole congregation, getting the news that Aaron had died, went into thirty days of mourning for him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, June 01, 2018
Read: Psalm 46
A Song of the Sons of Korah
1-3 God is a safe place to hide,
ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
the tremors that shift mountains.
Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,
this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
but Earth does anything he says.
7 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
loving look at me, your High God,
above politics, above everything.”
11 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
INSIGHT
Psalm 46 has been a source of encouragement to many over the years—including reformer Martin Luther. In fact, he based the classic hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” on this psalm. During times of struggle “when terribly discouraged, he would turn to his co-worker, Philipp Melanchthon, and say, ‘Come, Philipp, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm’” (Ligonier Ministries, Luther and the Psalms: His Solace and Strength).
This mighty fortress describes the God of strength who is our refuge. And He is also the God who calls us to find our rest in Him. In the New Testament, Jesus personalized that rest when He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In the midst of the cares and despairs of life, we can stop, be still, and find refuge in God. - Bill Crowder
Stop
By Elisa Morgan
Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
My friend and I sat in the sand, near the ever-rhythmic ocean. As the sun sank in the distance, wave after wave curled, paused and then rippled toward our extended toes, stopping just short each time. “I love the ocean,” she smiled. “It moves so I don’t have to.”
What a thought! So many of us struggle to stop. We do, do, do and go, go, go, somehow afraid that if we cease our efforts we will cease to be. Or that by stopping we will expose ourselves to the ever-present realities we work to keep at bay.
In Psalm 46:8–9, God flexes His omnipotent muscles, putting His power on display. “Come and see what the Lord has done . . . . He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.” God is a busy God, who works to create calm within the chaos of our days.
And then in verse 10 we read, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Of course it’s possible to know God while running here and there. But the psalmist’s invitation to cease striving beckons us into a different kind of knowing. A knowing that we can stop—and still be—because God never stops. A knowing that it is God’s power that gives us ultimate value, protection, and peace.
Dear God, help me to find my rest in You.
We rest well when we’re in the loving arms and perfect will of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 01, 2018
The Staggering Question
He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" —Ezekiel 37:3
Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.”
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves…” (Ezekiel 37:12). When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as you yourself could be without His grace. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Romans 7:18). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 01, 2018
Grabbing the Golden Moment - #8190
Over the years, my wife missed some memorable photographs because of me. Well, frankly because I was in too much of a hurry to stop. I'll tell you what, what a gift as a photographer this lady had! What an eye for what was going to turn out to be a memorable picture. So, we'd be speeding along. She'd see one of those potential pictures and ask me to stop. Okay, here comes my all-too-frequent answer: "We'll stop later." OK, I'm a guy. Well, somehow the same picture isn't there a few minutes later. I remember this one scene; we saw this cabin in a field and it was haloed with this beautiful rainbow. That scene just wasn't there a few minutes later. It's amazing how there's this brief window during which you can capture the scene and, well, then it's gone.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Grabbing The Golden Moment."
Now in our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus is actually describing a window of opportunity that's easy to miss. It's an exciting scene, but you have to capture it when the moment's there. It's in John 9:4. Jesus says this. "As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me. Night is coming when no one can work." He's describing what I'll call the "work of God window"--this brief spiritual opening during which you can accomplish an important spiritual objective. Then, just like those photo opportunities we've missed, the golden moment is gone.
There is a special timing in God's work, and we need to be able to see what time it is in our lives and in the lives of other people, and then we have to respond quickly and accordingly. When the window opens, when God's moving, it's time to drop everything and work like mad and follow Him in the direction He's going.
This "work of God window" might be, for example, a teachable moment that suddenly arises in the life of a friend of yours or maybe a family member, maybe one of your children, your grandchildren. Now we usually want to teach when we feel like teaching, but no, it doesn't work that way. We have to seize the natural opening when it arises. It might be that someone who has been closed to spiritual things is suddenly feeling the need for what you have to share. Would you drop your scheduled agenda and seize the moment!
These ministry windows, they come in the lives of individuals, they come in the life of a church, they come in the life of a Christian ministry...in the life of a family. It's this unexpected, unscheduled season of opportunity. Ready or not, grab it while it's day. If you're rigid, if you're inflexible, if you just stick to your original plan, if you're just too busy, you'll miss this moment. You might find that your circle of friends is, for just a short time, suddenly open to hearing
God's perspective on something. Or maybe it's the people you live with or work with, or maybe your family. God might be moving you toward a place of greater usefulness for Him. That's exciting! You weren't expecting this, but take this opportunity. God may open up a natural opportunity today for you to speak to someone about the love of Jesus Christ that has changed your life. An "interruption" may actually be a God-given chance to really minister to someone's life in a moment of deep need. When God opens that door, opens that window, says "Go", go.
See, our mission is to wake up in the morning and begin looking for the ministry window that that day may hold. "This is the day the Lord has made." When God opens up a spiritual opportunity, don't be all rigid and just keep speeding along, unwilling to change. Respond, even if it means changing your plans. And work hard till it's dark, because this picture may never look like this again--and it won't look like this for long. So, man, grab this golden moment!
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