Max Lucado Daily: WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP
For some people it’s God, yes; but Church, no. They like the benefits but resist commitment. The music, the message, the clean conscience—they accept the church perks. So they visit her; they use the church. But commit to the church? Can’t do that. We’ve got to keep options open. Don’t want to miss out on any opportunities.
To miss the church is to miss God’s sanctioned tool for God promotion. The church is a key place to do what you do the best to the glory of God. Scripture says, “We are His workmanship” (Ephesians 2:10). The word used here means poetry. We are his poetry… his creative best. Alone we are meaningless symbols on a page. But collectively, we inspire! “All of us together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). And “each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body” (Romans 12:5).
Read more Cure for the Common Life
Joshua 10
The Five Kings
1-2 It wasn’t long before My-Master-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and destroyed it and its king under a holy curse, just as he had done to Jericho and its king. He also learned that the people of Gibeon had come to terms with Israel and were living as neighbors. He and his people were alarmed: Gibeon was a big city—as big as any with a king and bigger than Ai—and all its men were seasoned fighters.
3-4 Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon: “Come and help me. Let’s attack Gibeon; they’ve joined up with Joshua and the People of Israel.”
5 So the five Amorite (Western) kings—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon—combined their armies and set out to attack Gibeon.
6 The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua camped at Gilgal, “Don’t let us down now! Come up here quickly! Save us! Help us! All the Amorite kings who live up in the hills have ganged up on us.”
7-8 So Joshua set out from Gilgal, his whole army with him—all those tough soldiers! God told him, “Don’t give them a second thought. I’ve put them under your thumb—not one of them will stand up to you.”
9-11 Joshua marched all night from Gilgal and took them by total surprise. God threw them into total confusion before Israel, a major victory at Gibeon. Israel chased them along the ridge to Beth Horon and fought them all the way down to Azekah and Makkedah. As they ran from the People of Israel, down from the Beth Horon ridge and all the way to Azekah, God pitched huge stones on them out of the sky and many died. More died from the hailstones than the People of Israel killed with the sword.
12-13 The day God gave the Amorites up to Israel, Joshua spoke to God, with all Israel listening:
“Stop, Sun, over Gibeon;
Halt, Moon, over Aijalon Valley.”
And Sun stopped,
Moon stood stock still
Until he defeated his enemies.
13-14 (You can find this written in the Book of Jashar.) The sun stopped in its tracks in mid sky; just sat there all day. There’s never been a day like that before or since—God took orders from a human voice! Truly, God fought for Israel.
15 Then Joshua returned, all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
16-17 Meanwhile the five kings had hidden in the cave at Makkedah. Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”
18-19 Joshua said, “Roll big stones against the mouth of the cave and post guards to keep watch. But don’t you hang around—go after your enemies. Cut off their retreat. Don’t let them back into their cities. God has given them to you.”
20-21 Joshua and the People of Israel then finished them off, total devastation. Only a few got away to the fortified towns. The whole army then returned intact to the camp and to Joshua at Makkedah. There was no criticism that day from the People of Israel!
22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring me those five kings.”
23 They did it. They brought him the five kings from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
24 When they had them all there in front of Joshua, he called up the army and told the field commanders who had been with him, “Come here. Put your feet on the necks of these kings.”
They stepped up and put their feet on their necks.
25 Joshua told them, “Don’t hold back. Don’t be timid. Be strong! Be confident! This is what God will do to all your enemies when you fight them.”
26-27 Then Joshua struck and killed the kings. He hung them on five trees where they remained until evening. At sunset Joshua gave the command. They took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden. They put large stones at the mouth of the cave. The kings are still in there.
No Survivors
28 That same day Joshua captured Makkedah, a massacre that included the king. He carried out the holy curse. No survivors. Makkedah’s king got the same treatment as Jericho’s king.
29-30 Joshua, all Israel with him, moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. God gave Libnah to Israel. They captured city and king and massacred the lot. No survivors. Libnah’s king got the same treatment as Jericho’s king.
31-32 Joshua, all Israel with him, moved on from Libnah to Lachish. He set up camp nearby and attacked. God gave Lachish to Israel. Israel took it in two days and killed everyone. He carried out the holy curse, the same as with Libnah.
33 Horam, king of Gezer, arrived to help Lachish. Joshua attacked him and his army until there was nothing left of them. No survivors.
34-35 Joshua, all Israel with him, moved on from Lachish to Eglon. They set up camp and attacked. They captured it and killed everyone, carrying out the holy curse, the same as they had done with Lachish.
36-37 Joshua, all Israel with him, went up from Eglon to Hebron. He attacked and captured it. They killed everyone, including its king, its villages, and their people. No survivors, the same as with Eglon. They carried out the holy curse on city and people.
38-39 Then Joshua, all Israel with him, turned toward Debir and attacked it. He captured it, its king, and its villages. They killed everyone. They put everyone and everything under the holy curse. No survivors. Debir and its king got the same treatment as Hebron and its king, and Libnah and its king.
40-42 Joshua took the whole country: hills, desert, foothills, and mountain slopes, including all kings. He left no survivors. He carried out the holy curse on everything that breathed, just as God, the God of Israel, had commanded. Joshua’s conquest stretched from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the entire region of Goshen to Gibeon. Joshua took all these kings and their lands in a single campaign because God, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
43 Then Joshua, all Israel with him, went back to the camp at Gilgal.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, July 05, 2018
Read: Psalm 104:1–6, 10–23
O Lord My God, You Are Very Great
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
5 He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
Psalm 104:10-23 English Standard Version (ESV)
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;[a]
the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until the evening.
Footnotes:
Psalm 104:19 Or the appointed times (compare Genesis 1:14)
God’s Great Creation
By Dave Branon
The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. Psalm 104:12
On a recent visit with some of our grandchildren, we enjoyed watching a web cam that focused on an eagle family in Florida. Every day we would check in on the mom, the dad, and the baby as they went about their daily routine in their nest high off the ground. Each day the parent birds would keep a constant, protective vigil over the eaglet, bringing it fish from a nearby river for nourishment.
This little eagle family depicts for us one image the psalmist gave us of God’s magnificent creation in Psalm 104—an array of creation images, of scenes from the work of God’s creative hand.
We see the majesty of God’s creation as it relates to the universe (vv. 2–4).
We experience the creation of the earth itself—waters, mountains, valleys (vv. 5–9).
We enjoy the glory of God’s gift of animals, birds, and crops (vv. 10–18).
We marvel at the cycles God created in our world—morning/night, darkness/light, work/rest (vv. 19–23).
What a glorious world God has fashioned with His hands for our enjoyment—and for His glory! “Praise the Lord, my soul!” (v. 1). Each one of us can say thank You to God for all He has given us to appreciate and enjoy.
Praise God! Praise You, Lord, for the wonder of the earth You created.
Share a photo of your favorite place at Facebook.com/ourdailybread.
The beauty of creation reflects the beauty of our Creator.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 05, 2018
Don’t Plan Without God
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. —Psalm 37:5
Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.
In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our “spiritual face” before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.
Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love…thinks no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.
Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not….” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.
The Place of Help
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 05, 2018
No Pilot, No Progress - #8214
The passengers were there and the plane was there, but our plane wasn't taking off that day. Oh, it was time, but we were still sitting in the flight lounge, and there were not many smiles that day. Then we finally found out what we were waiting for - our pilot wasn't there. See, his earlier flight was delayed and he hadn't landed yet. So even though we all had to get somewhere, our pilot was flying somewhere else when we needed him.
Well I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Pilot, No Progress."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the Old Testament account of the life of a spiritual leader named Eli and in 1 Samuel 2:12, it says of this man with great responsibility, "Eli's sons were wicked men: they had no regard for the Lord." Later in verse 22 it says, "Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So he said to them, 'Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. Ho, my sons: it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the Lord's people.'"
And yet, even though he rebuked them, he did nothing to stop them. So later on in verse 34 God comes along and says, "What happens to your two sons will be a sign to you, they will both die on the same day and I will raise up for myself a faithful priest." It's a tragic story. You've got a successful man whose family fell apart. Boy, that's been repeated a lot of times hasn't it.
It's easy to reach the whole world and lose your own. To impress the whole world, but maybe not be a hero to your own family. Apparently, Eli had neglected these boys because they grew up not caring much about what he cared about. You see a lot of families have a dad or mom and the kids really need that pilot to be there; but he or she is flying somewhere else or something else. Your kids really need dad, they really need mom.
Mom and dad can get increasingly consumed, though, by demands outside of the home. Dad gets lost in his business - the kids just get lost. There was an old song years ago, "cats in the cradle and the silver spoon" about a busy dad, and he says, "we'll get together then son. I know we'll have a good time then." And when his son grows up, his son has no time for him. Oh, dad's busy flying his career or maybe some other outside interest and the family meanwhile is without a pilot.
Someone else can be president, someone else can be the foreman, someone else can be whatever title you have, whatever outside the family position you might have acquired, but there's only one dad, there's only one husband for that wife. It can happen to a mom too. Especially if she believes the lie that has destroyed our men's health and relationships over these years - that it's working that gives you worth. That winning and worldly achievement is what gives you worth. That thing has been killing men for years, and now sadly it's killing too many women. Some may have to work, but not to get worth. You can't get it that way. A lot of women are chasing the same success phantom that their men have been fooled by for so long.
See, that other focus that might be occupying you right now could be Christian work. You're overcommitted. Maybe it's a hobby or recreation. Maybe it's just the Internet. But the pilot belongs first at the controls of his or her plane, and that's your family. Could it be that your mate, could it be that your son or daughter, maybe they're drifting because their pilot is flying somewhere else or something else?
Give your family your best, not your leftovers. If you'll pilot your family first, I think God's going to bless you with friendly skies.
