Max Lucado Daily: JESUS IS PRAYING FOR YOU
While we wait for Christ’s return, we can be encouraged because Jesus is praying for us! As recorded in Luke 22:31, Jesus says, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to test all of you as a farmer sifts his wheat.” Loose translation– Satan is gonna slap your faith like a farmer slaps wheat on the threshing floor!
You would expect Jesus’ next words to be, So get out of town! But Jesus shows no panic. In verse 32, He says, “I have prayed that you will not lose your faith. Help your brothers be stronger when you come back to me.”
Everything changes when Jesus prays for us. The devil may land a punch or two, but he never wins the fight. Jesus protected Peter, and Jesus is protecting you.
From When Christ Comes
Exodus 37
The Chest
1-5 Bezalel made the Chest using acacia wood: He made it three and three-quarters feet long and two and a quarter feet wide and deep. He covered it inside and out with a veneer of pure gold and made a molding of gold all around it. He cast four gold rings and attached them to its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other. He made poles from acacia wood, covered them with a veneer of gold, and inserted the poles for carrying the Chest into the rings on the sides.
6 Next he made a lid of pure gold for the Chest, an Atonement-Cover, three and three-quarters feet long and two and a quarter feet wide.
7-9 He sculpted two winged angel-cherubim out of hammered gold for the ends of the Atonement-Cover, one angel at one end, one angel at the other. He made them of one piece with the Atonement-Cover. The angels had outstretched wings and appeared to hover over the Atonement-Cover, facing one another but looking down on the Atonement-Cover.
The Table
10-15 He made the Table from acacia wood. He made it three feet long, one and a half feet wide and two and a quarter feet high. He covered it with a veneer of pure gold and made a molding of gold all around it. He made a border a handbreadth wide all around it and a rim of gold for the border. He cast four rings of gold for it and attached the rings to the four legs parallel to the tabletop. They will serve as holders for the poles used to carry the Table. He made the poles of acacia wood and covered them with a veneer of gold. They will be used to carry the Table.
16 Out of pure gold he made the utensils for the Table: its plates, bowls, jars, and jugs used for pouring.
The Lampstand
17-23 He made a Lampstand of pure hammered gold, making its stem and branches, cups, calyxes, and petals all of one piece. It had six branches, three from one side and three from the other; three cups shaped like almond blossoms with calyxes and petals on one branch, three on the next, and so on—the same for all six branches. On the main stem of the Lampstand, there were four cups shaped like almonds, with calyxes and petals, a calyx extending from under each pair of the six branches. The entire Lampstand with its calyxes and stems was fashioned from one piece of hammered pure gold. He made seven of these lamps with their candle snuffers, all out of pure gold.
24 He used a seventy-five-pound brick of pure gold to make the Lampstand and its accessories.
The Altar of Incense
25-28 He made an Altar for burning incense from acacia wood. He made it a foot and a half square and three feet high, with its horns of one piece with it. He covered it with a veneer of pure gold, its top, sides, and horns, and made a gold molding around it with two rings of gold beneath the molding. He placed the rings on the two opposing sides to serve as holders for poles by which it will be carried. He made the poles of acacia wood and covered them with a veneer of gold.
29 He also prepared with the art of a perfumer the holy anointing oil and the pure aromatic incense.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 19, 2018
Read: Psalm 118:1–14, 26–29
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
“His love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say:
“His love endures forever.”
5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
I look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humans.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];
he has become my salvation.
Footnotes:
Psalm 118:14 Or song
Psalm 118:26-29 New International Version (NIV)
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.[a]
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up[b] to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Footnotes:
Psalm 118:26 The Hebrew is plural.
Psalm 118:27 Or Bind the festal sacrifice with ropes / and take it
INSIGHT
The writer of Psalm 118 knew about the struggles of living in a fallen world. Even when surrounded by enemies, the psalmist’s confidence in the Lord remained strong (vv. 8–9, 13–14, 28). Note the opening and closing verses. Despite the dangers he faced, the psalmist begins and ends by choosing to praise God: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
Are you in the midst of a trial? Meditate on the Lord’s goodness and His enduring love.
The Art of a Grateful Heart
By Joe Stowell
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:1
On our wedding day, Martie and I gladly vowed to be faithful “in good times as well as in bad, in sickness as well as in health, for richer or for poorer.” In a way it may seem strange to include vows about the bleak reality of bad times, sickness, and poverty on a cheerful wedding day. But it underscores the fact that life often has “bad” times.
So what are we to do when we face life’s inevitable difficulties? Paul urges us on behalf of Christ to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). As difficult as that may sound, there is good reason why God encourages us to embrace a spirit of gratitude. Gratitude is grounded in the truth that our Lord “is good” and “his love endures forever” (Psalm 118:1). He is present with us and strengthens us in the midst of trouble (Hebrews 13:5–6), and He lovingly uses our trials to grow our character into His likeness (Romans 5:3–4).
God, teach me to have a grateful heart.
When life hits us with hard times, choosing to be grateful focuses our attention on the goodness of God and gives us the strength to make it through our struggles. With the psalmist, we can sing, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 118:29).
Lord, I realize that focusing on my troubles causes me to forget that even in the midst of trials You are good. Teach me the art of a grateful heart.
Thanksgiving is a virtue that grows through practice.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 19, 2018
Abraham’s Life of Faith
He went out, not knowing where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8
In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26.
Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason— a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.
The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith— a faith, tested and true, built on the true God. “Abraham believed God…” (Romans 4:3).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried. He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 19, 2018
Never Forget Who You're Fighting - #8136
I was watching the History Channel one day, and I was reminded of something I had heard about one of World War II's most dramatic confrontations. British General Montgomery went face-to-face with Hitler's best, General Rommel. They called him "The Desert Fox." He was a brilliant strategist in his campaign to take and then to keep North Africa for the Fuehrer. Well, Montgomery finally defeated the Desert Fox at the Battle of El Alamein. But history also tells us one reason why he did. See, General Montgomery had a picture hanging in his command tent where he could see it every day. No, it wasn't Winston Churchill. It wasn't the King of England. It was a picture of General Rommel. Montgomery said he didn't ever want to forget who he was fighting.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Forget Who You’re Fighting."
Actually, that's an important secret of spiritual victory, too - never forgetting who your real enemy is. That's why the Bible warns us to be alert because "your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). We're told to "take your stand against the devil's schemes" because "our struggle is not against flesh and blood" (Ephesians 6:11-12). Now, it's easy to fall into thinking that we're fighting just certain people or problems or obstacles, but we've got to keep our real enemy in front of us.
In our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 22:31, Jesus gives Peter - and us -this warning and this promise. "Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail." Don't you love those words, "Satan has asked to sift you"? See, there's nothing the enemy can do to you without your Savior's permission. God will only allow what He knows you can handle, what can make you stronger, and what can boomerang in Satan's face. And as in Peter's life, Jesus is really planning to use you. So Satan is really trying to sift you.
General Montgomery made sure he knew his enemy's tactics. You need to know that about your enemy. Obviously, he isn't going to come to you and openly say, "Hi, I'm the Devil. Come with me." No, he wants you to forget him so you don't resist him. He wants you to fight this as a flesh-and-blood battle. Then he's got you.
So what are some of the strategies Satan might be using to stop you? For one thing, worry. He's trying to get you to worry about things so you'll be slowed down, discouraged, paralyzed. And then there are wounds. Your enemy will try to use hurts and slights and disappointments to get you to focus on how you've been hurt, which is really getting you to focus on yourself.
Your enemy also uses walls to defeat you - walls that you allow to develop between you and another person. You resist the devil when you go immediately to a person to get things right before a wall can even develop.
Your enemy might try to use work to sink you, just getting you overwhelmed by that mountain of work you have, getting you to focus on your load instead of your Lord. Another enemy target - your weaknesses. He's appealing to some of your vulnerable spots to get you to fall there again. You have to consciously face your weakness each morning, and declare that it is Jesus' territory now.
Finally, Satan will try to use the wilderness to bring you down - using a spiritually dry spell to pull you away from Jesus. And your response? Resist him! You tell him with Holy Spirit defiance, "I know who this is, and I'm not falling for this!" Why should you? You belong to Jesus, at whose Name every knee will bow!