Deuteronomy 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Soaring and Sitting

Perhaps you’ve seen the sight! Tethered to a high-speed boat, the parasail lifts the rope-clinging customer six hundred feet into the air. High above, the passenger hangs on and enjoys the view, letting the boat do the work. What choice does he or she have? To reach such heights, help is needed. To maintain such heights, power is mandated. No person can self-elevate to such a level.

Watching as one of my daughters flew high above on the parasail, I thought, “Isn’t this a picture of grace? Look at her, soaring and sitting.” Those two words seldom appear in the same sentence. Especially religious sentences. We tend to think soaring and working; soaring and striving, soaring and struggling. But soaring and sitting? It happens. It happens when you let the boat do the work. It happens when you let God do the same.

From In the Grip of Grace

Deuteronomy 33
The Blessing
Moses, man of God, blessed the People of Israel with this blessing before his death. He said,

God came down from Sinai,
    he dawned from Seir upon them;
He radiated light from Mount Paran,
    coming with ten thousand holy angels
And tongues of fire
    streaming from his right hand.
Oh, how you love the people,
    all his holy ones are palmed in your left hand.
They sit at your feet,
    honoring your teaching,
The Revelation commanded by Moses,
    as the assembly of Jacob’s inheritance.
Thus God became king in Jeshurun
    as the leaders and tribes of Israel gathered.

6 Reuben:

“Let Reuben live and not die,
    but just barely, in diminishing numbers.”

7 Judah:

“Listen, God, to the Voice of Judah,
    bring him to his people;
Strengthen his grip,
    be his helper against his foes.”

8-11 Levi:

“Let your Thummim and Urim
    belong to your loyal saint;
The one you tested at Massah,
    whom you fought with at the Waters of Meribah,
Who said of his father and mother,
    ‘I no longer recognize them.’
He turned his back on his brothers
    and neglected his children,
Because he was guarding your sayings
    and watching over your Covenant.
Let him teach your rules to Jacob
    and your Revelation to Israel,
Let him keep the incense rising to your nostrils
    and the Whole-Burnt-Offerings on your Altar.
God bless his commitment,
    stamp your seal of approval on what he does;
Disable the loins of those who defy him,
    make sure we’ve heard the last from those who hate him.”

12 Benjamin:

“God’s beloved;
    God’s permanent residence.
Encircled by God all day long,
    within whom God is at home.”

13-17 Joseph:

“Blessed by God be his land:
    The best fresh dew from high heaven,
    and fountains springing from the depths;
The best radiance streaming from the sun
    and the best the moon has to offer;
Beauty pouring off the tops of the mountains
    and the best from the everlasting hills;
The best of Earth’s exuberant gifts,
    the smile of the Burning-Bush Dweller.
All this on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the consecrated one among his brothers.
In splendor he’s like a firstborn bull,
    his horns the horns of a wild ox;
He’ll gore the nations with those horns,
    push them all to the ends of the Earth.
Ephraim by the ten thousands will do this,
    Manasseh by the thousands will do this.”

18-19 Zebulun and Issachar:

“Celebrate, Zebulun, as you go out,
    and Issachar, as you stay home.
They’ll invite people to the Mountain
    and offer sacrifices of right worship,
For they will have hauled riches in from the sea
    and gleaned treasures from the beaches.”

20-21 Gad:

“Blessed is he who makes Gad large.
    Gad roams like a lion,
    tears off an arm, rips open a skull.
He took one look and grabbed the best place for himself,
    the portion just made for someone in charge.
He took his place at the head,
    carried out God’s right ways
    and his rules for life in Israel.”

22 Dan:

“Dan is a lion’s cub
    leaping out of Bashan.”

23 Naphtali:

“Naphtali brims with blessings,
    spills over with God’s blessings
As he takes possession
    of the sea and southland.”

24-25 Asher:

“Asher, best blessed of the sons!
    May he be the favorite of his brothers,
    his feet massaged in oil.
Safe behind iron-clad doors and gates,
    your strength like iron as long as you live.”

26-28 There is none like God, Jeshurun,
    riding to your rescue through the skies,
    his dignity haloed by clouds.
The ancient God is home
    on a foundation of everlasting arms.
He drove out the enemy before you
    and commanded, “Destroy!”
Israel lived securely,
    the fountain of Jacob undisturbed
In grain and wine country
    and, oh yes, his heavens drip dew.

29 Lucky Israel! Who has it as good as you?
    A people saved by God!
The Shield who defends you,
    the Sword who brings triumph.
Your enemies will come crawling on their bellies
    and you’ll march on their backs.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, September 01, 2018
Read: Matthew 18:1–10
Who Is the Greatest?

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[a] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin
7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin![b] For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell[c] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.[d]

Footnotes:
Matthew 18:6 Greek causes… to stumble; also verses 8, 9
Matthew 18:7 Greek stumbling blocks
Matthew 18:9 Greek Gehenna
Matthew 18:10 Some manuscripts add verse 11: For the Son of Man came to save the lost

INSIGHT
Jesus not only taught about caring for children, but He practiced it. He restored Jairus’s daughter to life (Mark 5:35–43), delivered a demon-possessed girl (Matthew 15:21–28), and rescued a demoniac boy (Mark 9:14–29). In all these cases, our Lord also showed great compassion for the parents who deeply cared for the welfare of their children. - Bill Crowder

Officer Miglio’s Heart
By Tim Gustafson

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. Matthew 18:10

Back at the police station, Officer Miglio slumped wearily against a wall. A domestic violence call had just consumed half his shift. Its aftermath left a boyfriend in custody, a young daughter in the emergency room, and a shaken mother wondering how it had come to this. This call would wear on the young officer for a long time.

“Nothing you could do, Vic,” said his sergeant sympathetically. But the words rang hollow. Some police officers seem able to leave their work at work. Not Vic Miglio. Not the tough cases like this one.

Officer Miglio’s heart reflects the compassion of Jesus. Christ’s disciples had just come to Him with a question: “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1). Calling a small child to Him, He told His disciples, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (v. 3). Then He gave a stern warning to anyone who would harm a child (v. 6). In fact, children are so special to Him that Jesus told us, “Their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven” (v. 10).

How comforting, then, that Jesus’s love for children is connected to His love for us all! That’s why He invites us, through childlike faith, to become His sons and daughters.

Remind us always, Lord, to love children as You love them, even as we come to You with the trusting faith of a small child.
Our earthly families may fail us, but our heavenly Father never will.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, September 01, 2018
Destined To Be Holy
…it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." —1 Peter 1:16

We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires and interests, and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them. Many of them may be right, noble, and good, and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime God must cause their importance to us to decrease. The only thing that truly matters is whether a person will accept the God who will make him holy. At all costs, a person must have the right relationship with God.

Do I believe I need to be holy? Do I believe that God can come into me and make me holy? If through your preaching you convince me that I am unholy, I then resent your preaching. The preaching of the gospel awakens an intense resentment because it is designed to reveal my unholiness, but it also awakens an intense yearning and desire within me. God has only one intended destiny for mankind— holiness. His only goal is to produce saints. God is not some eternal blessing-machine for people to use, and He did not come to save us out of pity— He came to save us because He created us to be holy. Atonement through the Cross of Christ means that God can put me back into perfect oneness with Himself through the death of Jesus Christ, without a trace of anything coming between us any longer.

Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind— placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself. Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what God has given me that is being exhibited in my life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand.  Not Knowing Whither, 888 L