Max Lucado Daily: IN THE STORM - April 26, 2018
After Jesus’ disciples fought a raging storm for nine cold hours, at about 4:00 AM the unspeakable happened. They spotted someone coming on the water. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror. (Matthew 14:26 MSG). They didn’t expect Jesus to come to them this way.
Neither do we. We expect him to come in the form of peaceful hymns on Easter Sundays or quiet retreats. We expect to find Jesus in morning devotionals and meditations. We never expect to see him in a divorce or a foreclosure. We never expect to see him in a storm. But it’s in a storm that he does his finest work, for it is in storms that he has our keenest attention.
Jesus replied to the disciples’ fear with an invitation worthy of inscription on every church cornerstone and residential archway, “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” (Matthew 17:27).
Read more Fearless
Leviticus 22
1-2 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate to me with reverence so they won’t desecrate my holy name. I am God.
3 “Tell them, From now on, if any of your descendants approaches in a state of ritual uncleanness the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate to God, he will be cut off from my presence. I am God.
4-8 “Each and every one of Aaron’s descendants who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge may not eat any of the holy offerings until he is clean. Also, if he touches anything defiled by a corpse, or has an emission of semen, or is contaminated by touching a crawling creature, or touches a person who is contaminated for whatever reason—a person who touches any such thing will be ritually unclean until evening and may not eat any of the holy offerings unless he has washed well with water. After the sun goes down he is clean and may go ahead and eat the holy offerings; they are his food. But he must not contaminate himself by eating anything found dead or torn by wild animals. I am God.
9 “The priests must observe my instructions lest they become guilty and die by treating the offerings with irreverence. I am God who makes them holy.
10-13 “No layperson may eat anything set apart as holy. Nor may a priest’s guest or his hired hand eat anything holy. But if a priest buys a slave, the slave may eat of it; also the slaves born in his house may eat his food. If a priest’s daughter marries a layperson, she may no longer eat from the holy contributions. But if the priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and without children and returns to her father’s household as before, she may eat of her father’s food. But no layperson may eat of it.
14 “If anyone eats from a holy offering accidentally, he must give back the holy offering to the priest and add twenty percent to it.
15-16 “The priests must not treat with irreverence the holy offerings of the Israelites that they contribute to God lest they desecrate themselves and make themselves guilty when they eat the holy offerings. I am God who makes them holy.”
17-25 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons and all the People of Israel, Each and every one of you, whether native born or foreigner, who presents a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God to fulfill a vow or as a Freewill-Offering, must make sure that it is a male without defect from cattle, sheep, or goats for it to be acceptable. Don’t try slipping in some creature that has a defect—it won’t be accepted. Whenever anyone brings an offering from cattle or sheep as a Peace-Offering to God to fulfill a vow or as a Freewill-Offering, it has to be perfect, without defect, to be acceptable. Don’t try giving God an animal that is blind, crippled, mutilated, an animal with running sores, a rash, or mange. Don’t place any of these on the Altar as a gift to God. You may, though, offer an ox or sheep that is deformed or stunted as a Freewill-Offering, but it is not acceptable in fulfilling a vow. Don’t offer to God an animal with bruised, crushed, torn, or cut-off testicles. Don’t do this in your own land but don’t accept them from foreigners and present them as food for your God either. Because of deformities and defects they will not be acceptable.”
26-30 God spoke to Moses: “When a calf or lamb or goat is born, it is to stay with its mother for seven days. After the eighth day, it is acceptable as an offering, a gift to God. Don’t slaughter both a cow or ewe and its young on the same day. When you sacrifice a Thanksgiving-Offering to God, do it right so it will be acceptable. Eat it on the same day; don’t leave any leftovers until morning. I am God.
31 “Do what I tell you; live what I tell you. I am God.
32-33 “Don’t desecrate my holy name. I insist on being treated with holy reverence among the People of Israel. I am God who makes you holy and brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Read: 2 Kings 4:1–7
The Widow’s Olive Oil
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
INSIGHT
Can you remember a time when you thought that without a miracle you might not make it?
The Old Testament story of Elijah and Elisha speaks to such fears and the need for faith. Through signs and wonders Elijah called a nation back to its God (1 Kings 18:21, 38–39). Elisha, in turn, inspired hope by miraculously purifying water, multiplying food, and raising the dead.
This is the backstory that according to the New Testament was preparing the way for Jesus. With echoes of Elisha, Jesus filled the stomachs of more than 5,000 hungry people with a little boy’s lunch (Matthew 14:15–21).
Are you troubled by overwhelming needs that keep you awake at night? How does reflecting on God’s miraculous power give you hope? - Mart DeHaan
The Widow’s Faith
By Poh Fang Chia
The pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Matthew 6:32
It is pitch dark when Ah-pi starts her day. Others in the village will wake up soon to make their way to the rubber plantation. Harvesting latex is one of the main sources of income for people living in Hongzhuang Village, China. To collect as much latex as possible, the trees must be tapped very early in the morning, before daybreak. Ah-pi will be among the rubber tappers, but first she will spend time communing with God.
Ah-pi’s father, husband, and only son have passed away, and she—with her daughter-in-law—is providing for an elderly mother and two young grandsons. Her story reminds me of another widow in the Bible who trusted God.
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The widow’s husband had died and left her in debt (2 Kings 4:1). In her distress, she looked to God for help by turning to His servant Elisha. She believed that God cared and that He could do something about her situation. And God did. He provided miraculously for the dire needs of this widow (vv. 5–6). This same God also provided for Ah-pi—though less miraculously—through the toil of her hands, the produce from the ground, and gifts from His people.
Though life can make various demands on us, we can always draw strength from God. We can entrust our cares to Him, do all we can, and let Him amaze us with what He can do with our situation.
Father, thank You for Your patience when I trust in my own resources and turn to You only as a last resort. Teach me to seek Your help in all I do.
We may face situations beyond our reserves, but never beyond God’s resources.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 26, 2018
The Supreme Climb
Take now your son…and offer him…as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. —Genesis 22:2
A person’s character determines how he interprets God’s will (see Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs which must be removed– for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much. That is the devil’s lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, he will do so. But if we will stay true to God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself.
The great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience. Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was actually the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself. But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don’t ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even “to go …both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement— he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Blinded By the Cure - #8164
My wife and I had an unforgettable time on the little island of Haiti some years ago. You know, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and a heartbreaking place for anyone with a little compassion in their heart. While we were there, missionaries told us about one recent tragedy that was indicative of so many in the lives of these beautiful people. There had been an epidemic of conjunctivitis, or "pinkeye" as it's often called. Women were frustrated by having their eyes crusted over or just running like they do with conjunctivitis, so they tried what they thought might cure it-bleach. They rubbed bleach in their eyes. You know the outcome.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Blinded By the Cure."
What a tragedy! What they thought would help them see actually made them blind. That tragedy has been happening to people spiritually for a long time. Trusting their soul to something they believe to be the answer spiritually, but really getting blinded to the truth about God and how to know Him. What we hope to be the cure just blinding us to what could really make us right with God.
As you read the Bible, it becomes clear that some of the people in the greatest spiritual danger are us religious people. Look at who it was that rejected Jesus and insisted on Him being crucified-the most religious people of the day. On the day Jesus healed a man who had been blind all his life, the religious leaders totally missed the miracle right in front of their eyes and tried to use it to turn the healing into an accusation against Jesus.
It was at that point that He gave us our word for today from the Word of God in John 9, beginning with verse 39. "Jesus said, 'For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see' (Now, think spiritual blindness here.) Some Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, 'What? Are we blind too?' Jesus said, 'If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim to see, your guilt remains."
Now, hold on! What's Jesus saying here? He's saying that if you think you're okay spiritually, that you can see, you'll never see your need of Jesus. But when you know and admit that you're spiritually blind-that you're powerless to impress God to earn heaven-then you're ready to have your sins forgiven, you're ready to have your hell cancelled.
And that's the problem with some of us who've been good most of our life, who are very religious people, who may have a whole lot of Christianity; Christian vocabulary that we use, Christian meetings we attend, Christian teachings we agree with. But it's possible to have all that, feeling pretty secure spiritually, only to miss Christ and to end up as one of the most surprised people in hell. We can be blinded by our religion from our need to abandon all hope of heaven but one hope-the only One who died to pay for your sin...Jesus, your only hope of heaven. Titus 3:5 says, "He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." If you think you can save yourself from drowning spiritually, you're never going to grab Jesus as your personal rescuer from your personal sin.
Frankly, Satan would love to blind you to your need for Christ all the way to your last breath so you will be with him in hell instead of with Jesus in heaven. But today, Jesus is reaching into your heart. He's removing that blindness so you can see how desperately you need Him. Because He loves you so much, He doesn't want to lose you. You need to come to Him while you can feel Him working in your heart, because you can't come otherwise.
If that's today, please open your heart to Him and tell Him this very day, "Jesus, somehow in all my religion, I've missed you. But not any longer. No, beginning today, I'm Yours."
If that's where your heart is, we've set up our website, ANewStory.com, to be a destination for you right now to get this done. Because from the moment you trade trusting in a religion about Jesus for a relationship with Jesus, you'll be able to see God and see yourself as never before. And you will literally trade death for life.
