Max Lucado Daily: BE HOSPITABLE
Our society is set up for isolation. We communicate via e-mail and text messages. Our mantra is “I leave you alone; you leave me alone.” Yet God wants his people to be an exception, people of hospitality.
“Every day in the Temple and in people’s homes they continued teaching the people and telling the Good News— that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 5:42). Even a casual reading of the New Testament unveils the house as the primary tool of the church. The first generation of Christians was a tinderbox of contrasting cultures and backgrounds. Yet, through the clearest of messages (the Cross) and the simplest of tools (the home), they shared the Gospel.
Do you have a front door? Do you have bread and meat for sandwiches? You just qualified to serve in the most ancient of ministries, that of hospitality.
1 Chronicles 21
Now Satan entered the scene and seduced David into taking a census of Israel. David gave orders to Joab and the army officers under him, “Canvass all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and get a count of the population. I want to know the number.”
3 Joab resisted: “May God multiply his people by hundreds! Don’t they all belong to my master the king? But why on earth would you do a thing like this—why risk getting Israel into trouble with God?”
4-7 But David wouldn’t take no for an answer, so Joab went off and did it—canvassed the country and then came back to Jerusalem and reported the results of the census: There were 1,100,000 fighting men; of that total, Judah accounted for 470,000. Joab, disgusted by the command—it, in fact, turned his stomach!—protested by leaving Levi and Benjamin out of the census-taking. And God, offended by the whole thing, punished Israel.
8 Then David prayed, “I have sinned badly in what I have just done, substituting statistics for trust; forgive my sin—I’ve been really stupid.”
9-10 God answered by speaking to Gad, David’s pastor: “Go and give David this message: ‘God’s word: You have your choice of three punishments; choose one and I’ll do the rest.’”
11-12 Gad delivered the message to David: “Do you want three years of famine, three months of running from your enemies while they chase you down, or three days of the sword of God—an epidemic unleashed on the country by an angel of God? Think it over and make up your mind. What shall I tell the One who sent me?”
13 David told Gad, “They’re all terrible! But I’d rather be punished by God whose mercy is great, than fall into human hands.”
14-15 So God unleashed an epidemic in Israel—seventy thousand Israelites died. God then sent the angel to Jerusalem but when he saw the destruction about to begin, he compassionately changed his mind and ordered the death angel, “Enough’s enough! Pull back!”
15-16 The angel of God had just reached the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel hovering between earth and sky, sword drawn and about to strike Jerusalem. David and the elders bowed in prayer and covered themselves with rough burlap.
17 David prayed, “Please! I’m the one who sinned; I’m the one at fault. But these sheep, what did they do wrong? Punish me, not them, me and my family; don’t take it out on them.”
18-19 The angel of God ordered Gad to tell David to go and build an altar to God on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David did what Gad told him in obedience to God’s command.
20-21 Meanwhile Araunah had quit threshing the wheat and was watching the angel; his four sons took cover and hid. David came up to Araunah. When Araunah saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed deeply before David, honoring the king.
22 David said to Araunah, “Give me the site of the threshing floor so I can build an altar to God. Charge me the market price; we’re going to put an end to this disaster.”
23 “O Master, my king,” said Araunah, “just take it; do whatever you want with it! Look, here’s an ox for the burnt offering and threshing paddles for the fuel and wheat for the meal offering—it’s all yours!”
24-27 David replied to Araunah, “No. I’m buying it from you, and at the full market price. I’m not going to offer God sacrifices that are no sacrifice.” So David bought the place from Araunah for six hundred shekels of gold. He built an altar to God there and sacrificed Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings. He called out to God and God answered by striking the altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering with lightning. Then God told the angel to put his sword back into its scabbard.
28 And that’s the story of what happened when David saw that God answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite at the time he offered the sacrifice.
29-30 At this time the Tabernacle that Moses had constructed in the desert, and with it the Altar of Burnt Offering, were set up at the worship center at Gibeon. But David, terrified by the angel’s sword, wouldn’t go there to 1 pray to God anymore. So David declared, “From now on, this is the site for the worship of God; this is the place for Israel’s Altar of Burnt Offering.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 6:4–14
The Jewish Passover Festivala was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip,b “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wagesa to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother,c spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”d
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,e and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the signf Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”g
Insight
The feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle besides Jesus’ resurrection that’s reported in all four gospels (Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:32–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:5–14). Quantitatively, this is the biggest miracle Jesus performed, with potentially more than 20,000 beneficiaries. “The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matthew 14:21). Mark 6:35–37 tells us this was a “remote place,” and the disciples wanted to send the people away so they could get food for themselves. But Jesus ordered His disciples to feed them. He challenged both their faith—they didn’t have the means or resources—and their compassion. Seeing the needs of others, Jesus wanted them to make these needs their responsibility as well.
Bring What You Have
“Bring them here to me,” [Jesus] said. Matthew 14:18
“Stone Soup,” an old tale with many versions, tells of a starving man who comes to a village, but no one there can spare a crumb of food for him. He puts a stone and water in a pot over a fire. Intrigued, the villagers watch him as he begins to stir his “soup.” Eventually, one brings a couple of potatoes to add to the mix; another has a few carrots. One person adds an onion, another a handful of barley. A farmer donates some milk. Eventually, the “stone soup” becomes a tasty chowder.
That tale illustrates the value of sharing, but it also reminds us to bring what we have, even when it seems to be insignificant. In John 6:1–14 we read of a boy who appears to be the only person in a huge crowd who thought about bringing some food. Christ’s disciples had little use for the boy’s sparse lunch of five loaves and two fishes. But when it was surrendered, Jesus increased it and fed thousands of hungry people!
I once heard someone say, “You don’t have to feed the five thousand. You just have to bring your loaves and fishes.” Just as Jesus took one person’s meal and multiplied it far beyond anyone’s expectations or imagination (v. 11), He’ll accept our surrendered efforts, talents, and service. He just wants us to be willing to bring what we have to Him. By: Cindy Hess Kasper
Reflect & Pray
What have you been holding back from God? Why is it difficult to bring that area of your life to Him?
Jesus, help me to surrender whatever I have to You, knowing You can multiply a little into a lot.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 16, 2020
The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" —Isaiah 6:8
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 16, 2020
The Mismatch Illusion - #8614
Just a few years ago they had the battle of Little Big Horn again, and Custer lost again. Actually it was part of a movie on the life of the great Oglala Lakota, Chief Crazy Horse. My Lakota friend, Jerry, was asked to be one of Crazy Horse's warriors in the movie. Now, one challenge was riding bareback. They had to do that full speed in the battle scenes, and of course, the big scene was the portrayal of Custer's last stand. Interestingly enough, Jerry can't even find himself in those scenes because the warriors were going by so fast in a cloud of dust. Someone asked him how many warriors they needed to reenact a battle that involved so many Native Americans. He said, "Oh, about 80." Hollywood of course is all about illusion, so they just had these 80 guys keep charging up to the soldiers, turn their horses sharply and circle around again and again and again. There weren't nearly as many warriors on the other side as it looked like in the movie. Custer might have wished that the real odds might have been that even.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Mismatch Illusion."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Kings 6:14. The King of Syria really wants Elisha captured. It says this, "He sent an entire army to get the prophet. He sent horses and chariots and a strong force and at night they surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning he saw the army and horses and chariots that surrounded the city. 'Oh my Lord, what shall we do?', the servant asked. 'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'" At which point his eyes are opened and he can see that unseen army all around him.
The opposing forces looked overwhelming - they weren't. Rather than being overwhelming, they were actually overwhelmed, as the story goes on, by the armies of the Living God who was protecting the Servant of God - which God always does. Based on the forces the servant could see, he reacted with anxiety and fear. It looked like a total mismatch, but the mismatch was an illusion! Kind of like the movie portrayal of Custer's last stand, the attackers looked much stronger than they really were. When you get all the information about who's out there, it doesn't seem nearly as intimidating.
Right now maybe you're in a battle and it looks like a lop-sided mismatch with you almost overwhelmed by the opposition, by the darkness that's attacking, by the responsibilities you have. The tendency, of course, is to retreat, give up, hide, compromise. Maybe you're worried about the bad influences on your son or daughter and what they might become. Or about some strong opposition to a work you're trying to do for the Lord, or the financial odds against you. It could be the pressure that's intimidated you into silence where you should be telling them about Jesus. Whatever it is, what stands in the way looks huge doesn't it? But you need to look again at this battle. This time look at the forces of Jesus who are committed to the battle on your behalf.
Listen to His promises, "The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4). "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you." (Psalm 91:7). "The chariots of God are tens of thousands, and thousands of thousands, the Lord has come" (Psalm 68:17). Romans 8:31 says, "If God be for us" - you probably know the rest - "who could be against us." You've been intimidated long enough, you've played defense long enough, you've shrunk back in fear long enough and let fear win. The Bible says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)
The enemy isn't nearly as big as he'd like you to believe. You have in you the risen Christ who said, "all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). You have all the power of Jesus' blood and Jesus' name. Sure t
he devil keeps circling to make you think you're outnumbered, and you are, but this battle will be decided by the awesome forces of your Living God. And listen again, "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
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