Max Lucado Daily: The Lord is My Shepherd
We want to do things our way. Forget the easy way. Forget the best way. Forget God’s way. We want to do things our way. And according Isaiah 53:6, that’s precisely our problem. “We all have wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way.”
Sheep are dumb. Ever see sheep tricks? Know anyone who has ever taught his sheep to roll over? No, sheep are just too dumb. Instead of “the Lord is my shepherd,” couldn’t David have thought of a better metaphor than sheep? How about “The Lord is my commander in chief, and I am his warrior!”
When David, who was a warrior, searched for an illustration of God, he remembered his days as a shepherd. He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep day and night. David rejoiced to say, “The Lord is my shepherd.” And in so doing he proudly implied, “I am His sheep.”
From Traveling Light
Numbers 2
Marching Orders
1-2 God spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “The People of Israel are to set up camp circling the Tent of Meeting and facing it. Each company is to camp under its distinctive tribal flag.”
3-4 To the east toward the sunrise are the companies of the camp of Judah under its flag, led by Nahshon son of Amminadab. His troops number 74,600.
5-6 The tribe of Issachar will camp next to them, led by Nethanel son of Zuar. His troops number 54,400.
7-8 And the tribe of Zebulun is next to them, led by Eliab son of Helon. His troops number 57,400.
9 The total number of men assigned to Judah, troop by troop, is 186,400. They will lead the march.
10-11 To the south are the companies of the camp of Reuben under its flag, led by Elizur son of Shedeur. His troops number 46,500.
12-13 The tribe of Simeon will camp next to them, led by Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. His troops number 59,300.
14-15 And the tribe of Gad is next to them, led by Eliasaph son of Deuel. His troops number 45,650.
16 The total number of men assigned to Reuben, troop by troop, is 151,450. They are second in the order of the march.
17 The Tent of Meeting with the camp of the Levites takes its place in the middle of the march. Each tribe will march in the same order in which they camped, each under its own flag.
18-19 To the west are the companies of the camp of Ephraim under its flag, led by Elishama son of Ammihud. His troops number 40,500.
20-21 The tribe of Manasseh will set up camp next to them, led by Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. His troops number 32,200.
22-23 And next to him is the camp of Benjamin, led by Abidan son of Gideoni. His troops number 35,400.
24 The total number of men assigned to the camp of Ephraim, troop by troop, is 108,100. They are third in the order of the march.
25-26 To the north are the companies of the camp of Dan under its flag, led by Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. His troops number 62,700.
27-28 The tribe of Asher will camp next to them, led by Pagiel son of Ocran. His troops number 41,500.
29-30 And next to them is the tribe of Naphtali, led by Ahira son of Enan. His troops number 53,400.
31 The total number of men assigned to the camp of Dan number 157,600. They will set out, under their flags, last in the line of the march.
32-33 These are the People of Israel, counted according to their ancestral families. The total number in the camps, counted troop by troop, comes to 603,550. Following God’s command to Moses, the Levites were not counted in with the rest of Israel.
34 The People of Israel did everything the way God commanded Moses: They camped under their respective flags; they marched by tribe with their ancestral families.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, May 06, 2018
Read: John 15:5–8
“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
INSIGHT
The context of abiding in the vine (John 15:1–8) is vital to understanding this passage, but it’s even more helpful to take a step back and look at the entire scene. It’s the night before Christ will be crucified. Judas has already gone to betray Jesus (John 13:30). Jesus and His disciples have just departed the upper room where they shared the Last Supper. As they walk, the Lord refers to two metaphorical groups: branches that bear fruit and those that don’t. The good branches abide in the vine and are pruned (disciplined). Unfruitful branches don’t abide and are cut off.
Bible scholar William Hendriksen points out the significance of Judas’s recent departure in light of Jesus’s words here. Judas did not abide in the vine. Jesus encouraged the remaining disciples to abide and “bear much fruit” (v. 8). Significantly, the eleven who remained were all persecuted for defending the faith. Ten of them died for it (tradition says John died peacefully in his old age after returning from Patmos). Yet God kept His promise to them. Although He did not deliver them from physical attacks, He gave them boldness to proclaim the truth.
We who “abide in the vine” will be “pruned.” What might that mean for us? - Tim Gustafson
Standing on the Promises
By David H. Roper
Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7
My friend’s brother (when they were both children) assured his sister an umbrella had enough lift to hold her up if she would only “believe.” So “by faith” she jumped off a barn roof and knocked herself out, suffering a minor concussion.
What God has promised, He will do. But we must be sure we stand on God’s actual word when we claim a promise, for only then do we have the assurance that God will do or give what He’s promised. Faith has no power in itself. It only counts when it’s based on a clear and unambiguous promise from God. Anything else is just wishful thinking.
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Here’s a case in point: God has promised, “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit” (John 15:7–8). These verses are not a promise that God will answer every prayer we utter, but rather a promise that He will respond to every longing for personal righteousness, what Paul calls “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22–23). If we hunger and thirst for holiness and ask God for it, He will begin to satisfy us. It will take time; for spiritual growth, like human growth, is gradual. Don’t give up. Keep asking God to make you holy. In His time and at His pace “it will be done for you.” God doesn’t make promises He doesn’t keep.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your many promises to us in Your Word. And thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit who gives discernment.
Read about the promises of God at discoveryseries.org/q0105.
We have a promise-keeping God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, May 06, 2018
Liberty and the Standards of Jesus
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free… —Galatians 5:1
A spiritually-minded person will never come to you with the demand— “Believe this and that”; a spiritually-minded person will demand that you align your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One whom the Bible reveals (see John 5:39-40). We are called to present liberty for the conscience of others, not to bring them liberty for their thoughts and opinions. And if we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty— the liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.
Always measure your life solely by the standards of Jesus. Submit yourself to His yoke, and His alone; and always be careful never to place a yoke on others that is not of Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us to stop thinking that unless everyone sees things exactly as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only one true liberty— the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.
Don’t get impatient with others. Remember how God dealt with you— with patience and with gentleness. But never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, “Go…and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19), not, “Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L
