Max Lucado Daily: FIFTH SPARROWS
Do we matter? We fear we don’t. In Luke 12:6, Jesus says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.” One penny would buy two sparrows. Two pennies, however, would buy five. The seller threw in the fifth for free.
Society has its share of fifth sparrows: indistinct souls who feel dispensable, disposable, worth little. It’s time to deal with the fear of not mattering, the fear of insignificance. Why does God love you so much? You are his idea. And God has only good ideas. Ephesians 2:10 assures us, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Read More Fearless
2 Samuel 8
In the days that followed, David struck hard at the Philistines— brought them to their knees and took control of the countryside.
2 He also fought and defeated Moab. He chose two-thirds of them randomly and executed them. The other third he spared. So the Moabites fell under David’s rule and were forced to bring tribute.
3-4 On his way to restore his sovereignty at the River Euphrates, David next defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob the king of Zobah. He captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand infantry. He hamstrung all the chariot horses, but saved back a hundred.
5-6 When the Arameans from Damascus came to the aid of Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand of them. David set up a puppet government in Aram-Damascus. The Arameans became subjects of David and were forced to bring tribute. God gave victory to David wherever he marched.
7-8 David plundered the gold shields that belonged to the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. He also looted a great quantity of bronze from Tebah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer.
9-12 Toi, king of Hamath, heard that David had struck down the entire army of Hadadezer. So he sent his son Joram to King David to greet and congratulate him for fighting and defeating them, for Toi and Hadadezer were old enemies. He brought with him gifts of silver, gold, and bronze. King David consecrated these along with the silver and gold from all the nations he had conquered—from Aram, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and from Amalek, along with the plunder from Hadadezer son of Rehob king of Zobah.
13-14 David built a victory monument on his return from defeating the Arameans.
Abishai son of Zeruiah fought and defeated the Edomites in the Salt Valley. Eighteen thousand of them were killed. David set up a puppet government in Edom, and the Edomites became subjects under David.
God gave David victory wherever he marched.
15 Thus David ruled over all of Israel. He ruled well—fair and even-handed in all his duties and relationships.
16 Joab son of Zeruiah was head of the army;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was clerk;
17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests;
Seraiah was secretary;
18 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites;
And David’s sons were priests.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 07, 2019
Read: 1 Samuel 16:1–7
God Looks into the Heart
16 God addressed Samuel: “So, how long are you going to mope over Saul? You know I’ve rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your flask with anointing oil and get going. I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I’ve spotted the very king I want among his sons.”
2-3 “I can’t do that,” said Samuel. “Saul will hear about it and kill me.”
God said, “Take a heifer with you and announce, ‘I’ve come to lead you in worship of God, with this heifer as a sacrifice.’ Make sure Jesse gets invited. I’ll let you know what to do next. I’ll point out the one you are to anoint.”
4 Samuel did what God told him. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the town fathers greeted him, but apprehensively. “Is there something wrong?”
5 “Nothing’s wrong. I’ve come to sacrifice this heifer and lead you in the worship of God. Prepare yourselves, be consecrated, and join me in worship.” He made sure Jesse and his sons were also consecrated and called to worship.
6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Here he is! God’s anointed!”
7 But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”
INSIGHT
Samuel, whose name means “heard by God,” was Israel’s last judge as well as a priest and prophet. Samuel was born during the time of the judges at a turning point in Israel’s history. The son of Hannah and Elkanah, Samuel was dedicated to the Lord by his mother. As a little boy, Samuel went to live in the “house of the Lord at Shiloh,” the tabernacle (see 1 Samuel 1:24–28). There he was trained under the guidance of the priest Eli, and there he received a special calling from God (3:1–21). Samuel anointed the first king, Saul (chs. 9–10); and in today’s passage we see him preparing to anoint David, Saul’s replacement (16:1–13). - Alyson Kieda
An Ordinary Man
By Estera Pirosca Escobar
People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
William Carey was a sickly boy, born to a humble family near Northampton, England. His future didn’t look too bright. But God had plans for him. Against all odds, he moved to India, where he brought incredible social reforms and translated the Bible into several Indian languages. He loved God and people, and accomplished many things for God.
David, son of Jesse, was an ordinary young man, the youngest in his family. He was seemingly an insignificant shepherd on the hills of Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:11–12). Yet God saw David’s heart and had a plan for him. King Saul had been rejected by God for disobedience. While the prophet Samuel mourned Saul’s choices, God called Samuel to anoint a different king, one of Jesse’s sons.
When Samuel saw the handsome, tall Eliab, he naturally thought, “surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord” (v. 6). However, God’s strategy to select a king was much different than Samuel’s. In fact, God said no to each of Jesse’s sons, except the youngest one. Selecting David as king was definitely not a strategic move from God’s part, or so it seemed at first glance. What would a young shepherd have to offer his community, let alone his country?
How comforting to know that the Lord knows our hearts and has His plans for us.
Dear Lord, thank You that You care more about my heart’s attitude toward You than my outward beauty, possessions, or achievements.
Welcome to Estera Pirosca Escobar! Meet all our authors at odb.org/all-authors.
God’s priority is your heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 07, 2019
Intimate With Jesus
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?" —John 14:9
These words were not spoken as a rebuke, nor even with surprise; Jesus was encouraging Philip to draw closer. Yet the last person we get intimate with is Jesus. Before Pentecost the disciples knew Jesus as the One who gave them power to conquer demons and to bring about a revival (see Luke 10:18-20). It was a wonderful intimacy, but there was a much closer intimacy to come: “…I have called you friends…” (John 15:15). True friendship is rare on earth. It means identifying with someone in thought, heart, and spirit. The whole experience of life is designed to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ. We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we really know Him?
Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away…” (John 16:7). He left that relationship to lead them even closer. It is a joy to Jesus when a disciple takes time to walk more intimately with Him. The bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be the visible result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ (see John 15:1-4).
Once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely and we never lack for understanding or compassion. We can continually pour out our hearts to Him without being perceived as overly emotional or pitiful. The Christian who is truly intimate with Jesus will never draw attention to himself but will only show the evidence of a life where Jesus is completely in control. This is the outcome of allowing Jesus to satisfy every area of life to its depth. The picture resulting from such a life is that of the strong, calm balance that our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them. The Place of Help, 1032 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 07, 2019
Getting Worse So You Can Get Well - #8346
For a while, it seemed like it was just a head cold. But suddenly my wife's chest started to hurt, and a serious almost uncontrollable cough developed, and minor activity even made it hard to breathe. I had suggested she see a doctor earlier in the week, but she was about as good at taking those suggestions as I am. But eventually she got so miserable, she called for an appointment. "You've got pneumonia, girl!" That's what the doctor said after that chest x-ray. Sure enough, there was this dark stuff, camping out in her lung, causing all this trouble.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Getting Worse So You Can Get Well."
Thankfully, the doctor knew what to give my honey to cure this condition. Her problem really wasn't the coughing or the chest discomfort or the breathing difficulty. Those were just the symptoms, and all the little treatments for those symptoms sure didn't solve the problem. It took a cure for the condition that was causing the problems to finally make her well. But guess what it took to get my wife to the person who could cure what was really wrong? Just like most of us, she had to get worse to get to the point where she'd go to the one who could make her well.
Maybe you've had to get to that point, too, to get a cure, that is, for the spiritual condition in your soul. Ths one that's causing so many of the symptoms that have plagued your life for so long. Sometimes our symptoms have to get so acute, so painful we just have to finally go to find what's wrong, and to be healed by the only One who can heal us. And that's very important, because our condition is terminal-like forever.
In our word for today from the Word of God, the ancient Jewish King David tells us what finally cured his symptoms; what showed up on God's spiritual x-ray of his heart. It may be a key to you finally finding some relief from that loneliness, from the crushing stress you feel, from that restlessness in your heart, that never-answered frustration over why you're even here, or symptoms like struggling over your worth, or your failures, or the pain of your past.
In Psalm 32, beginning with verse 1, David says, "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him...When I kept silent, my bones wasted away, through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." All kinds of symptoms: heaviness in his soul, groaning over how his life was going, total inner depletion. Then the breakthrough: "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and You forgave me all the guilt of my sin.'" Like my wife, he finally got bad enough that he went to the only One who could heal what was really wrong.
Sin is what's really wrong with you and me. Many of the things we call our "problems" are really there because God isn't there. And He isn't there because we've pushed Him out and we've run the life that He was supposed to run. Since we're out of the orbit we were made for, nothing's working. If we die away from Him, we'll be away from Him forever. And that's called hell.
But the Bible tells us that Jesus, God's Son, "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). You and I do the sinning, but Jesus did the dying for it. He's your only hope of having every wrong thing you've ever done forgiven. He's your only hope of ever going to God's heaven. And the reason your symptoms have gotten worse is so you'll finally go to Him and get well. As one man said about Jesus' death for Him, "His wounds have healed mine."
Jesus is waiting to administer the miracle cure of His forgiveness to you this day, but only if and when you completely trust your life to His hands. You can have all He died to give you by saying to Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." That is the beginning of the relationship you were made for. It can start today and you can have a new story.
And that's what our website's called - ANewStory.com. Would you go there and see there the truth from God's own Word that will lead you all the way home to God?
You really need Him, and you can have Him. You can have Him today!