Max Lucado Daily: PERSECUTION: PREPARE FOR IT; RESIST IT
Acts 4:13 says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”
What set Peter and John apart was the fact that they had been with Jesus. Could you use some high-octane boldness? Could you use some courage? Are you being criticized, mocked, persecuted? If so, imitate the disciples. Linger long and often in the presence of Christ. Meditate on His grace. Ponder His love. Memorize His words. Gaze into His face. Talk to Him. Courage comes as we live with Jesus.
1 Chronicles 26
The teams of security guards were from the family of Korah: Meshelemiah son of Kore (one of the sons of Asaph). Meshelemiah’s sons were Zechariah, the firstborn, followed by Jediael, Zebadiah, Jathniel, Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai—seven sons. Obed-Edom’s sons were Shemaiah, the firstborn, followed by Jehozabad, Joah, Sacar, Nethanel, Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai—God blessed him with eight sons. His son Shemaiah had sons who provided outstanding leadership in the family: Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad; his relatives Elihu and Semakiah were also exceptional. These all came from the line of Obed-Edom—all of them outstanding and strong. There were sixty-two of them. Meshelemiah had eighteen sons and relatives who were outstanding. The sons of Hosah the Merarite were Shimri (he was not the firstborn but his father made him first), then Hilkiah, followed by Tabaliah and Zechariah. Hosah accounted for thirteen.
12-16 These teams of security guards, supervised by their leaders, kept order in The Temple of God, keeping up the traditions of their ancestors. They were all assigned to their posts by the same method regardless of the prominence of their families—each picked his gate assignment from a hat. Shelemiah was assigned to the East Gate; his son Zechariah, a shrewd counselor, got the North Gate. Obed-Edom got the South Gate; and his sons pulled duty at the storehouse. Shuppim and Hosah were posted to the West Gate and the Shalleketh Gate on the high road.
16-18 The guards stood shoulder to shoulder: six Levites per day on the east, four per day on the north and on the south, and two at a time at the storehouse. At the open court to the west, four guards were posted on the road and two at the court.
19 These are the teams of security guards from the sons of Korah and Merari.
20-22 Other Levites were put in charge of the financial affairs of The Temple of God. From the family of Ladan (all Gershonites) came Jehieli, and the sons of Jehieli, Zetham and his brother Joel. They supervised the finances of the sanctuary of God.
23-28 From the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites: Shubael, descended from Gershom the son of Moses, was the chief financial officer. His relatives through Eliezer: his son Rehabiah, his son Jeshaiah, his son Joram, his son Zicri, and his son Shelomith. Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of valuables consecrated by David the king, family heads, and various generals and commanders from the army. They dedicated the plunder that they had gotten in war to the work of the worship of God. In addition, everything that had been dedicated by Samuel the seer, Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah—anything that had been dedicated, ever, was the responsibility of Shelomith and his family.
29-30 From the family of the Izharites, Kenaniah and sons were appointed as officials and judges responsible for affairs outside the work of worship and sanctuary. From the family of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his relatives—1,700 well-qualified men—were responsible for administration of matters related to the worship of God and the king’s work in the territory west of the Jordan.
31-32 According to the family tree of the Hebronites, Jeriah held pride of place. In the fortieth year of David’s reign (his last), the Hebron family tree was researched and outstanding men were found at Jazer in Gilead, namely, Jeriah and 2,700 men of his extended family: David the king made them responsible for administration of matters related to the worship of God and the work of the king in the territory east of the Jordan—the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 40:1–5, 14–17
I waited patientlyc for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.d
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,e
out of the mudf and mire;g
he set my feeth on a rocki
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new songj in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lordk
and put their trustl in him.
4 Blessed is the onem
who trusts in the Lord,n
who does not look to the proud,o
to those who turn aside to false gods.b p
5 Many, Lord my God,
are the wondersq you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can comparer with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too manys to declare.
Insight
Psalm 40 both praises God for His help in the past (vv. 1–10) and pleads for His help once more in a new crisis (vv. 11–17). The “pit” and “mud and mire” of verse 2 were images associated with death; for the psalmist, God’s deliverance in the past was experienced as dramatically as being given a new life after death. Although the writer’s sufferings are too many to name (v. 12), so are God’s many wonders (v. 5). God’s long history of faithfulness gives His people a solid foundation for trust and confidence (v. 2). By: Monica La Rose
Waiting with the Turtle
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1
Every fall, when the painted turtle senses winter coming, she dives to the bottom of her pond, burying herself in the muck and mud. She pulls into her shell and goes still: her heart rate slows, almost stopping. Her body temperature drops, staying just above freezing. She stops breathing, and she waits. For six months, she stays buried, and her body releases calcium from her bones into her bloodstream, so that she slowly begins even to lose her shape.
But when the pond thaws, she will float up and breathe again. Her bones will reform, and she will feel the warmth of the sun on her shell.
I think of the painted turtle when I read the psalmist’s description of waiting for God. The psalmist is in a “slimy pit” of “mud and mire,” but God hears him (Psalm 40:2). God lifts him out, and gives him a firm place to stand. God is “my help and my deliverer,” he sings (v. 17).
Perhaps it feels like you’ve been waiting forever for something to change—for a new direction in your career, for a relationship to be restored, for the willpower to break a bad habit, or for deliverance from a difficult situation. The painted turtle and the psalmist are here to remind us to trust in God: He hears, and He will deliver. By: Amy Peterson
Reflect & Pray
What do you need to trust God with? What might that look like today?
God, sometimes it’s hard to wait. But we trust in You and in Your deliverance. Please give us patience, and allow Your greatness and glory to be evident in our lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Transformed by Beholding
We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image… —2 Corinthians 3:18
The greatest characteristic a Christian can exhibit is this completely unveiled openness before God, which allows that person’s life to become a mirror for others. When the Spirit fills us, we are transformed, and by beholding God we become mirrors. You can always tell when someone has been beholding the glory of the Lord, because your inner spirit senses that he mirrors the Lord’s own character. Beware of anything that would spot or tarnish that mirror in you. It is almost always something good that will stain it— something good, but not what is best.
The most important rule for us is to concentrate on keeping our lives open to God. Let everything else including work, clothes, and food be set aside. The busyness of things obscures our concentration on God. We must maintain a position of beholding Him, keeping our lives completely spiritual through and through. Let other things come and go as they will; let other people criticize us as they will; but never allow anything to obscure the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Never let a hurried lifestyle disturb the relationship of abiding in Him. This is an easy thing to allow, but we must guard against it. The most difficult lesson of the Christian life is learning how to continue “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord….”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 23, 2020
In Search Of the Anchor - #8619
It started on a family vacation in Southern California. The kids were asking about earthquakes which were not a part of our regular growing up years in New Jersey. We started this whimsical little exercise where I would yell, "Earthquake drill!" Now, invariably our older son would run over to his older sister and he would hug her. I would ask innocently, "What are you doing?" to which he would reply, "Dad, you told us to hang on to something heavy!" Oooh, she wasn't, but I'll tell you, that boy was lucky he lived to have a sixth birthday! Actually, when things are shaking, it's really a pretty good idea to hang on to something heavy!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "In Search Of the Anchor."
There was a pop culture analyst some years ago who released a book, and was a guest on the same radio talk show that I was a guest on. We got to talk for a few minutes and I was introduced to what was then her new book. I guess she had a name that was pretty well known to people who are involved with marketing in the country. In fact, Fortune Magazine called her "the Nostradamus of marketing." Because she had had a phenomenal track record for predicting the trends that were going to affect our businesses, our families, and our lives in the future. In this particular book she listed several trends that she thought would shape our futures. One that particularly intrigued me was anchoring. She described our search for something we can count on to anchor our lives in an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable world. Let me quote a few things. "There is a new trend about the inner spirit called anchoring. The search for life's anchor is a must for filling the void that so many are feeling. We're looking for ourselves - our lost souls. A relationship with the divine may be the ultimate expression of anchoring."
Does that sound like anything that's going on inside of you recently? I think we know that the anchor is going to be a person; it's going to be a relationship. We're looking for that anchor relationship that we hope will be, let's call it unloseable. But the word "anchor" would not describe our relationships for the most part today, would it? Relationships might be better described as superficial, disappointing. We've never needed a count-on-able relationship more, and it's never been harder to find. The result? There's just a deepening loneliness.
See, with our need for an anchor in mind, I want to ask you to listen to our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 13:5. "God has said, 'Never will I leave you, and never will I forsake you." What a promise! Love that will never leave you abandoned and never alone. Do you trust this promise? Yeah, you can because of the price God paid to make it.
Paul, one of the writers of the New Testament talks about it when he tells about the new anchor in his life. He says in Galatians 2:20, "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." The Bible says that the one and only Son of God came here to deal with the ultimate cause of our loneliness. We're lonely for God. Because of our sin we're away from that God, the one who alone can fill the spiritual hole in our heart. That's why no earth relationship has ever been enough.
The only way for us to have access to God's great love was the death penalty fo
r our sin had to be paid. That's what Jesus himself did when He died on that cross so you could say, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." When you commit yourself to this Jesus, the sin wall between you and God comes down and you have begun the anchor relationship you were made for...that you've been looking for. The Bible says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
Do you want that? It's time to begin that relationship today. Would you tell Jesus, "I'm yours from this day on. I'm pinning all my hopes on you." In the words of a little boy, you're going to "Hang onto something heavy from now on. Someone who will never leave you."
Our website is there for you with the information that will help you be sure you belong to Jesus. That's ANewStory.com.
If you'll anchor yourself to Jesus Christ, you have just spent your last day alone!
