Max Lucado Daily: A Relationship with God
Our relationship with God is exactly that- a relationship. His invitation in Psalm 27:8 is simple. Come and talk with me, O my people. And our response? Lord, I'm coming! We abide with him and he abides with us.
Psalm 119:105 says in everything, His word is a "lamp unto our feet." It's not a spotlight into the future, but He gives enough light to take the next step.
Our "Glory Days" are such because we learn to hear God's voice telling us to turn this way or that way. Isaiah speaks of it in chapter 30, verse 21. "Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, "This is the way you should go." Wait until God speaks before you act. Be patient and monitor your impulse. If you feel a check in your heart, heed it and ask God again. Consult God in everything!
From Glory Days
Psalm 123
A Pilgrim Song
I look to you, heaven-dwelling God,
look up to you for help.
Like servants, alert to their master’s commands,
like a maiden attending her lady,
We’re watching and waiting, holding our breath,
awaiting your word of mercy.
Mercy, God, mercy!
We’ve been kicked around long enough,
Kicked in the teeth by complacent rich men,
kicked when we’re down by arrogant brutes.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Samuel 6:1–9
David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. 2 He and all his men went to Baalah[a] in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name,[b] the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it,[c] and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets,[d] harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.
6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.
8 Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.[e]
9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?”
Footnotes:
2 Samuel 6:2 That is, Kiriath Jearim (see 1 Chron. 13:6)
2 Samuel 6:2 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate do not have the Name.
2 Samuel 6:4 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text cart 4 and they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill
2 Samuel 6:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also 1 Chron. 13:8) songs
2 Samuel 6:8 Perez Uzzah means outbreak against Uzzah.
Insight
When Uzzah took hold of the ark to ensure it didn’t fall, the Scriptures say God became angry because of his “irreverent act” (2 Samuel 6:7). This seems harsh because it appears that Uzzah was trying to help. The Hebrew word hassal appears only in this passage and is translated as irreverent act, irreverence, or error. That it’s used only here suggests that what Uzzah did was a one of a kind event and therefore significant. God had given precise instructions regarding the handling of “holy things.” According to Numbers 4:15, “[the Kohathites] must not touch the holy things or they will die.” The holy things of God were to be treated according to His instruction. To do differently—even to “help”—indicated lack of reverence toward His command
Lava in Paradise
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16
All is quiet, save for slowly stretching tentacles of hissing lava nipping at the edges of the tropical foliage. Residents stand grim-faced yet amazed. Most days they call this “paradise.” On this day, however, the fiery fissures in Hawaii’s Puna district reminded everyone that God forged these islands via untamable volcanic power.
The ancient Israelites encountered an untamable power too. When King David recaptured the ark of the covenant (2 Samuel 6:1–4), a celebration broke out (v. 5)—until a man died suddenly when he grabbed hold of the ark to steady it (vv. 6–7).
This may tempt us to think of God as being as unpredictable as a volcano, just as likely to create as He is to destroy. However, it helps to remember that God had given Israel specific instructions for how to handle the things set apart for worshiping Him (see Numbers 4). Israel had the privilege of drawing near to God, but His presence was too overwhelming for them to approach Him carelessly.
Hebrews 12 recalls a mountain “burning with fire,” where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. That mountain terrified everyone (vv. 18–21). But the writer contrasts that scene with this: “You have come to . . . Jesus the mediator of a new covenant” (vv. 22–24). Jesus—God’s very Son—made the way for us to draw near to His untamable yet loving Father. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
How often am I tempted to think of God’s love without considering His power? Why is His power a crucial aspect of His character?
How great to know that our all-powerful God also loves us with infinite love!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Fellowship in the Gospel
…fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ… —1 Thessalonians 3:2
After sanctification, it is difficult to state what your purpose in life is, because God has moved you into His purpose through the Holy Spirit. He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself, thinking, “God has called me for this and for that,” you barricade God from using you. As long as you maintain your own personal interests and ambitions, you cannot be completely aligned or identified with God’s interests. This can only be accomplished by giving up all of your personal plans once and for all, and by allowing God to take you directly into His purpose for the world. Your understanding of your ways must also be surrendered, because they are now the ways of the Lord.
I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. I should never say, “Lord, this causes me such heartache.” To talk that way makes me a stumbling block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil, and if I wallow in it I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. Doing this creates for me my own cozy “world within the world,” and God will not be allowed to move me from it because of my fear of being “frost-bitten.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
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