Max Lucado Daily: A Reminder of Who is in Charge
Prayer reminds us of who is in charge. You don't take your requests to someone with less authority. You take them to someone who outranks you in the solutions department.
The same is true in prayer. You don't pray just to let God know what's going on. He's way ahead of you on that one. You pray to transfer "my will be done" to "God's will be done." And, since he's in charge, he knows the best solution. Prayer transfers the burden to God and He lightens your load. Prayer pushes us through life's slumps, propels us over the humps, and pulls us out of the dumps. Prayer is the oomph we need to get the answers we seek. So, pray…today!
From Max on Life
1 Chronicles 28
David called together all the leaders of Israel—tribal administrators, heads of various governmental operations, military commanders and captains, stewards in charge of the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons—everyone who held responsible positions in the kingdom.
2-7 King David stood tall and spoke: “Listen to me, my people: I fully intended to build a permanent structure for the Chest of the Covenant of God, God’s footstool. But when I got ready to build it, God said to me, ‘You may not build a house to honor me—you’ve done too much fighting—killed too many people.’ God chose me out of my family to be king over Israel forever. First he chose Judah as the lead tribe, then he narrowed it down to my family, and finally he picked me from my father’s sons, pleased to make me the king over all Israel. And then from all my sons—and God gave me many!—he chose my son Solomon to sit on the throne of God’s rule over Israel. He went on to say, ‘Your son Solomon will build my house and my courts: I have chosen him to be my royal adopted son; and I will be to him a father. I will guarantee that his kingdom will last if he continues to be as strong-minded in doing what I command and carrying out my decisions as he is doing now.’
8 “And now, in this public place, all Israel looking on and God listening in, as God’s people, obey and study every last one of the commandments of your God so that you can make the most of living in this good land and pass it on intact to your children, insuring a good future.
9-10 “And you, Solomon my son, get to know well your father’s God; serve him with a whole heart and eager mind, for God examines every heart and sees through every motive. If you seek him, he’ll make sure you find him, but if you abandon him, he’ll leave you for good. Look sharp now! God has chosen you to build his holy house. Be brave, determined! And do it!”
11-19 Then David presented his son Solomon with the plans for The Temple complex: porch, storerooms, meeting rooms, and the place for atoning sacrifice. He turned over the plans for everything that God’s Spirit had brought to his mind: the design of the courtyards, the arrangements of rooms, and the closets for storing all the holy things. He gave him his plan for organizing the Levites and priests in their work of leading and ordering worship in the house of God, and for caring for the liturgical furnishings. He provided exact specifications for how much gold and silver was needed for each article used in the services of worship: the gold and silver Lampstands and lamps, the gold tables for consecrated bread, the silver tables, the gold forks, the bowls and the jars, and the Incense Altar. And he gave him the plan for sculpting the cherubs with their wings outstretched over the Chest of the Covenant of God—the cherubim throne. “Here are the blueprints for the whole project as God gave me to understand it,” David said.
20-21 David continued to address Solomon: “Take charge! Take heart! Don’t be anxious or get discouraged. God, my God, is with you in this; he won’t walk off and leave you in the lurch. He’s at your side until every last detail is completed for conducting the worship of God. You have all the priests and Levites standing ready to pitch in, and skillful craftsmen and artisans of every kind ready to go to work. Both leaders and people are ready. Just say the word.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Timothy 3:10–15
A Final Charge to Timothy
You, however, know all about my teaching,y my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch,z Iconiuma and Lystra,b the persecutions I endured.c Yet the Lord rescuedd me from all of them.e 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,f 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse,g deceiving and being deceived.h 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,i 15 and how from infancyj you have known the Holy Scriptures,k which are able to make you wisel for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Insight
Paul loves Timothy like a son (2 Timothy 1:2) and wants him to grow strong in a love and faith worth living and dying for (2:1–3). But while referring often in his letter to themes of suffering and harassment (1:8–9, 11–12, 15; 2:8–10; 3:10–12; 4:17–18), the apostle didn’t have a persecution complex. In fact, when he tells Timothy that all who want to live in the spirit and reverence of Jesus will experience opposition (2 Timothy 3:12), he does so in the context of warning that those who live only for themselves will be doing greater harm to themselves and one another in the long run (vv. 1–9, 13). Paul reminded Timothy that that those who opposed them weren’t the real enemy. Without realizing it, such persons had been snared by the devil to distract from the goodness and grace of Christ (2:22–26; Ephesians 6:12). By: Mart DeHaan
Guiding Children to God
Continue in what you have learned . . . how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures. 2 Timothy 3:14–15
An outspoken atheist believes it’s immoral for parents to teach their children religion as though it were actually true. He even claims that parents who pass along their faith to their children are committing child abuse. Though these views are extreme, I do hear from parents who are hesitant to boldly encourage their children toward faith. While most of us readily hope to influence our children with our view of politics or nutrition or sports, for some reason some of us treat our convictions about God differently.
In contrast, Paul wrote of how Timothy had been taught “from infancy . . . the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). Timothy didn’t arrive at faith as an adult through the power of his own, unaided reason. Rather, his mother nurtured his heart toward God; then he continued in what he had learned (v. 14). If God is life, the source of true wisdom, then it’s vital for us to tenderly cultivate a love for God in our families.
There are many belief systems that are influencing our children. TV shows, movies, music, teachers, friends, the media—each of these carry assumptions (either obvious or under the radar) about faith that exert real influence. May we choose not to be silent. The beauty and grace we’ve experienced compels us to guide our children toward God. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
Reflect on the myriad influences and messages children (or all of us) receive in a given day. How do these forces shape you and those you love?
Dear Father, thank You for the joy and privilege to gracefully nurture children’s hearts toward You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Look Again and Consecrate
If God so clothes the grass of the field…, will He not much more clothe you…? —Matthew 6:30
A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. Jesus asks us to consider that “if God so clothes the grass of the field…” how “much more” will He clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him? Every time we lose ground in our fellowship with God, it is because we have disrespectfully thought that we knew better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed “the cares of this world” to enter in (Matthew 13:22), while forgetting the “much more” of our heavenly Father.
“Look at the birds of the air…” (Matthew 6:26). Their function is to obey the instincts God placed within them, and God watches over them. Jesus said that if you have the right relationship with Him and will obey His Spirit within you, then God will care for your “feathers” too.
“Consider the lilies of the field…” (Matthew 6:28). They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us. Therefore, we don’t take root anywhere. Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things. Did Jesus Christ lie to us? Are we experiencing the “much more” He promised? If we are not, it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries. How much time have we wasted asking God senseless questions while we should be absolutely free to concentrate on our service to Him? Consecration is the act of continually separating myself from everything except that which God has appointed me to do. It is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process. Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
