Max Lucado Daily: HELLO, CONTENTMENT
No cell phone? No computer? You’re kidding right? “Not now, thank you, I’ve too much to do,” we say. It’s crazy, since the reason we kill ourselves today is because we think it will make us content tomorrow!
But a funny thing happened on the way to the rat race that made me slip into neutral. My infant daughter had a stomach ache. Mom was out so it fell to Daddy to pick her up. I started trying to do things with one hand and hold her with the other. You’re smiling….you’ve tried that too?
I sat down, held her tight little tummy against my chest. She began to relax. Her little ear was right on top of my heart and she fell asleep. She’ll never remember that moment, and I’ll never forget it! “Good-by schedule,” I said. “See you later, routine. Hello, contentment. Come on in!”
1 Chronicles 5
The family of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Though Reuben was Israel’s firstborn, after he slept with his father’s concubine, a defiling act, his rights as the firstborn were passed on to the sons of Joseph son of Israel. He lost his “firstborn” place in the family tree. And even though Judah became the strongest of his brothers and King David eventually came from that family, the firstborn rights stayed with Joseph.
3 The sons of Reuben, firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
4-6 The descendants of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria took into exile. Beerah was the prince of the Reubenites.
7-10 Beerah’s brothers are listed in the family tree by families: first Jeiel, followed by Zechariah: then Bela son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel. Joel lived in the area from Aroer to Nebo and Baal Meon. His family occupied the land up to the edge of the desert that goes all the way to the Euphrates River, since their growing herds of livestock spilled out of Gilead. During Saul’s reign they fought and defeated the Hagrites; they then took over their tents and lived in them on the eastern frontier of Gilead.
11-12 The family of Gad were their neighbors in Bashan, as far as Salecah: Joel was the chief, Shapham the second-in-command, and then Janai, the judge in Bashan.
13-15 Their brothers, by families, were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all. These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz. Ahi son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was head of their family.
16 The family of Gad lived in Gilead and Bashan, including the outlying villages and extending as far as the pastures of Sharon.
17 They were all written into the official family tree during the reigns of Jotham king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel.
18-22 The families of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men trained for war—physically fit and skilled in handling shield, sword, and bow. They fought against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. God helped them as they fought. God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to him during the battle. God answered their prayers because they trusted him. They plundered the Hagrite herds and flocks: 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also captured 100,000 people. Many were killed, because the battle was God’s. They lived in that country until the exile.
23-26 The half-tribe of Manasseh had a large population. They occupied the land from Bashan to Baal Hermon, that is, to Senir (Mount Hermon). The heads of their families were Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel—brave warriors, famous, and heads of their families. But they were not faithful to the God of their ancestors. They took up with the ungodly gods of the peoples of the land whom God had gotten rid of before they arrived. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria) to take the families of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. He deported them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan. They’ve been there ever since.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 09, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Samuel 22:26–30
“To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
27 to the pureu you show yourself pure,
but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.v
28 You save the humble,w
but your eyes are on the haughtyx to bring them low.y
29 You, Lord, are my lamp;z
the Lord turns my darkness into light.
30 With your help I can advance against a troopg;
with my God I can scale a wall.
Insight
Today’s passage is part of a longer song David wrote “when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul” (2 Samuel 22:1). This song was the exuberant celebration of a man who’d been “delivered” from years of running and hiding—both from enemies in other countries and from his own people. While we don’t know exactly how long David lived on the run, we know that he lived with the Philistines for sixteen months (1 Samuel 27:7). This is amazing considering his initial claim to fame was killing their champion (ch. 17).
To learn more about the time of David, visit christianuniversity.org/OT128-06.
Our Guiding Light
You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. 2 Samuel 22:29
At a museum, I lingered near a display of ancient lamps. A sign revealed they were from Israel. Decorated with carved designs, these oval-shaped clay vessels had two openings—one for fuel, and one for a wick. Although the Israelites commonly used them in wall alcoves, each was small enough to fit in the palm of a person’s hand.
Perhaps a little light like this inspired King David to write a praise song in which he said, “You Lord are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light” (2 Samuel 22:29). David sang these words after God gave him victory in battle. Rivals from both inside and outside his own nation had been stalking him, intending to kill him. Because of his relationship with God, David didn’t cower in the shadows. He moved forward into enemy confrontations with the confidence that comes from God’s presence. With God helping him, he could see things clearly so he could make good decisions for himself, his troops, and his nation.
The darkness David mentioned in his song likely involved fear of weakness, defeat, and death. Many of us live with similar worries, which produce anxiety and stress. When the darkness presses in on us, we can find peace because we know God is with us too. The divine flame of the Holy Spirit lives in us to light our path until we meet Jesus face to face. By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
Why can you trust God to help you with your fears? What can you do to seek God’s guidance in your life?
God, please assure me of Your presence when I’m afraid. Help me to remember that You’ve defeated spiritual darkness through Your death and resurrection.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 09, 2019
The Opposition of the Natural
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —Galatians 5:24
The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.
The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To read the Bible according to God’s providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it, viz., in the blood and passion of personal life. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 09, 2019
One Great Hope - #8586
It was one of those disasters that years ago riveted the attention of the nation. Nine Pennsylvania coal miners had been excavating when they apparently broke through a flooded shaft. An estimated 50 to 60 million gallons of water rushed in, trapping the men in this underground chamber. When the water rose over their heads, they had to swim to higher ground - still 240 feet underground. For two and a half days, rescuers didn't know if the miners were dead or alive. Once they made contact through a phone line they lowered into the flooded shaft, they established a line that would deliver compressed air and they began pumping out water. Seventy-seven hours after the ordeal began, rescuers brought the miners, one at a time, up to the surface in this cramped yellow rescue cage. As the last man was pulled to the surface, the Governor of the state simply said, "All nine. All nine."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Great Hope."
Those miners were trapped in a deadly situation they couldn't possibly get themselves out of. Their only hope - the rescuers. I'll tell you, those miners are a picture of you and me in terms of the spiritual condition the Bible says we're all in - trapped in a deadly spot, unable to possibly get ourselves out. Simply put, the Bible says, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). That's spiritual death, cut off from the God whose love we were made for, and whose heaven we hope to go to.
Maybe you've been counting on your character to get you to heaven, or your church, or your Christianity. But sin has a death penalty, and the only way that can be paid is by someone dying. And someone did! Here's the greatest rescue of all time, as described by God Himself in 1 Timothy 2:5-6, our word for today from the Word of God. Here it says, "There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for us all."
Now, if being good - if any religion - could have removed your sin or mine, the Son of God would have never gone through the agony of that cross. It took that death to remove the penalty for every wrong thing you've ever done. Jesus broke through to our spiritually hopeless situation by dying for us. So if you're depending on anything other than Jesus and His death for you, you're not going to make it out of the deadly spiritual hole you're in.
Some people are bothered because God says that Jesus is the only way out of our sin predicament. Can you imagine those trapped miners responding to the rescuers by saying, "You mean there's only one way out of here?" I don't think so. They must have said, "Thank God there is a way!" And thank God, there is a way for you and me to be forgiven of our sins this very day; for you to trade the hell that we all deserve for the heaven we could never deserve. And that way is Jesus. But you have to grab Him in total trust, like a dying person would hold onto his rescuer.
Jesus may, in fact, be reaching out to you right now, right where you are. But you've got to grab His hand as your personal Rescuer from your personal sin. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I'm putting my total trust in You to forgive my sin. Only You died for it, and I'm trusting You to make me right with God. Today, I am Yours."
You ready to begin that life-saving relationship with Him? Well, tell Him that where you are. And then I'd love to help you get started if you'd go to our website. It's called ANewStory.com, and there you'll find some biblical information that will help you be sure you belong to Him.
For all eternity, this could be the day that you will remember that Jesus brought you out. This could be the day you are rescued.
