Max Lucado Daily: HE IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH
In this season, talk of shortages is everywhere we turn. A shortage of hospital beds. A shortage of supplies in the grocery stores. A shortage of the needed vaccine. A shortage of answers for the questions everyone is asking.
But with all the talk of shortages, there is one thing of which we will never run short… We will never run short of God’s love. He is with us. He loves us. He is strengthening us. And he is watching over us. When it feels like we don’t have what we need, God promises to provide for us. When it feels like things are falling apart, God promises to be there for us.
What is God saying in this time? Among the answers must be this promise from Psalm 46:1: “He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.” Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 29
Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old and was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God’s opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David.
3-9 In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah, having first repaired the doors of The Temple of God, threw them open to the public. He assembled the priests and Levites in the court on the east side and said, “Levites, listen! Consecrate yourselves and consecrate The Temple of God—give this much-defiled place a good housecleaning. Our ancestors went wrong and lived badly before God—they discarded him, turned away from this house where we meet with God, and walked off. They boarded up the doors, turned out the lights, and canceled all the acts of worship of the God of Israel in the holy Temple. And because of that, God’s anger flared up and he turned those people into a public exhibit of disaster, a moral history lesson—look and read! This is why our ancestors were killed, and this is why our wives and sons and daughters were taken prisoner and made slaves.
10-11 “I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us. Children, don’t drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well.”
12-17 The Levites stood at attention: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites; Shimri and Jeiel sons of Elizaphan; Zechariah and Mattaniah sons of Asaph; Jehiel and Shimei of the family of Heman; Shemaiah and Uzziel of the family of Jeduthun. They presented themselves and their brothers, consecrated themselves, and set to work cleaning up The Temple of God as the king had directed—as God directed! The priests started from the inside and worked out; they emptied the place of the accumulation of defiling junk—pagan rubbish that had no business in that holy place—and the Levites hauled it off to the Kidron Valley. They began the Temple cleaning on the first day of the first month and by the eighth day they had worked their way out to the porch—eight days it took them to clean and consecrate The Temple itself, and in eight more days they had finished with the entire Temple complex.
18-19 Then they reported to Hezekiah the king, “We have cleaned up the entire Temple of God, including the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Table of the Bread of the Presence with their furnishings. We have also cleaned up and consecrated all the vessels which King Ahaz had gotten rid of during his misrule. Take a look; we have repaired them. They’re all there in front of the Altar of God.”
20-24 Then Hezekiah the king went to work: He got all the leaders of the city together and marched to The Temple of God. They brought with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats to sacrifice as an Absolution-Offering for the royal family, for the Sanctuary, and for Judah as a whole; he directed the Aaronite priests to sacrifice them on the Altar of God. The priests butchered the bulls and then took the blood and sprinkled it on the Altar, and then the same with the rams and lambs. Finally they brought the goats up; the king and congregation laid their hands upon them. The priests butchered them and made an Absolution-Offering with their blood at the Altar to atone for the sin of all Israel—the king had ordered that the Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Absolution-Offering be for all Israel.
25-26 The king ordered the Levites to take their places in The Temple of God with their musical instruments—cymbals, harps, zithers—following the original instructions of David, Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; this was God’s command conveyed by his prophets. The Levites formed the orchestra of David, while the priests took up the trumpets.
27-30 Then Hezekiah gave the signal to begin: The Whole-Burnt-Offering was offered on the Altar; at the same time the sacred choir began singing, backed up by the trumpets and the David orchestra while the entire congregation worshiped. The singers sang and the trumpeters played all during the sacrifice of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. When the offering of the sacrifice was completed, the king and everyone there knelt to the ground and worshiped. Then Hezekiah the king and the leaders told the Levites to finish things off with anthems of praise to God using lyrics by David and Asaph the seer. They sang their praises with joy and reverence, kneeling in worship.
31-35 Hezekiah then made this response: “The dedication is complete—you’re consecrated to God. Now you’re ready: Come forward and bring your sacrifices and Thank-Offerings to The Temple of God.”
And come they did. Everyone in the congregation brought sacrifices and Thank-Offerings and some, overflowing with generosity, even brought Whole-Burnt-Offerings, a generosity expressed in seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs—all for Whole-Burnt-Offerings for God! The total number of animals consecrated for sacrifice that day amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. They ran out of priests qualified to slaughter all the Whole-Burnt-Offerings so their brother Levites stepped in and helped out while other priests consecrated themselves for the work. It turned out that the Levites had been more responsible in making sure they were properly consecrated than the priests had been. Besides the overflow of Whole-Burnt-Offerings there were also choice pieces for the Peace-Offerings and lavish libations that went with the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The worship in The Temple of God was on a firm footing again!
36 Hezekiah and the congregation celebrated: God had established a firm foundation for the lives of the people—and so quickly!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 23, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Revelation 21:1–7
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”a m for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,n and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City,o the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,p prepared as a brideq beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.r They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.s 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.t There will be no more death’b u or mourning or crying or pain,v for the old order of things has passed away.”w
5 He who was seated on the thronex said, “I am making everything new!”y Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”z
6 He said to me: “It is done.a I am the Alpha and the Omega,b the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without costc from the spring of the water of life.d 7 Those who are victoriouse will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Insight
Revelation 21:1–7 gives us a glimpse of our life in eternity. While it’s of great comfort knowing there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (v. 4), the most important thing about heaven is that it’s the dwelling place of God “where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). In this final vision of eternity in Revelation 21–22, Jesus declares, “It is done” (21:6). The New Living Translation renders it “It is finished!” echoing Christ’s victorious cry from the cross (John 19:30). Sin’s curse (Genesis 3:14–19) will be completely and eternally removed (Revelation 21:4–5). Christ gives freely the “water of life” (v. 6) first offered to Israel (Isaiah 55:1), then to the Samaritan woman (John 4:10), and to anyone who thirsts (7:37).
For further study, read Knowing God through Revelation at discoveryseries.org/sb248.
Reunion
Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people. Revelation 21:3
The little boy excitedly ripped open a big box from his serviceman daddy, whom he believed wouldn’t be home to celebrate his birthday. Inside that box was yet another giftwrapped box, and inside that box was another that simply held a piece of paper saying, “Surprise!” Confused, the boy looked up—just as his dad entered the room. Tearfully the son leapt into his father’s arms, exclaiming, “Daddy, I missed you” and “I love you!”
That tearful yet joyful reunion captures the heart of Revelation 21’s description of the glorious moment when God’s children see their loving Father face to face—in the fully renewed and restored creation. There, “[God] will wipe every tear from [our] eyes.” No longer will we experience pain or sorrow, because we’ll be with our heavenly Father. As the “loud voice” in Revelation 21 declares, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them” (vv. 3–4).
There’s a tender love and joy that followers of Jesus already enjoy with God, as 1 Peter 1:8 describes: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” Yet imagine our incredible, overflowing joy when we see the one we’ve loved and longed for welcoming us into His open arms! By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
What do you most look forward to about life in God’s presence in the restored creation? How do you experience glimpses of that joy now?
Loving God, we anticipate with joy the day when we will be with You. Until then, help us to happily serve You as we wait.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 23, 2020
Am I Carnally Minded?
Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal…? —1 Corinthians 3:3
The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. But Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, carnality will disappear.
Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things? Do you think that no one who is a Christian is ever like that? Paul said they are, and he connected these attitudes with carnality. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly awakens a spirit of malice or resentment in you? If so, that is proof that you are still carnal. If the process of sanctification is continuing in your life, there will be no trace of that kind of spirit remaining.
If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. But a child of the darkness will say, “Oh, I can explain that.” When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it. If, however, you try to vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness.
What is the proof that carnality has gone? Never deceive yourself; when carnality is gone you will know it— it is the most real thing you can imagine. And God will see to it that you have a number of opportunities to prove to yourself the miracle of His grace. The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, “If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of resentment!” And you will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
Bible in a Year: Joshua 13-15; Luke 1:57-80
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 23, 2020
Moving Ahead, in Spite of the Danger - #8661
Television at its best - which it all too seldom delivers - can take you to some fascinating places in the world that you might not see any other way. Like the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu, for example. The ruins of that ancient city, high up in the Andes Mountains of Peru, are remarkably well preserved, almost as if the city was just abandoned a night long ago. A recent documentary showed burros making their way up this rugged, winding, perilous road to Machu Picchu, carrying the burdens of the humans who were leading them. You'd expect animals to be pretty skittish on a narrow trail and this deadly drop-off only feet away. Oh, but not those burros. No, they were remarkably calm the whole trip. Of course, there was a reason. They were blindfolded!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Moving Ahead, in Spite of the Danger."
This documentary pointed out that the blindfold calmed the burros as they ascended this very dangerous road. They never realized the dangers that were all around them. They were just fine as long as they knew they were being led. You and I should be, too.
Maybe you've walked a pretty dangerous road lately, or there's a road ahead that you're hesitant to climb because of the dangers on it: financial danger, physical danger, risking your security, the danger of losing someone that's important to you, the risks of venturing from the known to the unknown, or the potential dangers of a change in your life; a changing season maybe. To be honest, there are many times that we let the dangers decide whether or not we'll actually make a move. That's a bad idea. God's ancient people turned away from the Promised Land and wandered 40 years in the wilderness because they let the dangers of Canaan decide what they were going to do.
No, the deciding factor shouldn't be how dangerous it looks, how risky, but rather that you're being led that direction by the guide who has never lost anyone. When He's leading you, no matter how steep the mountain, you're safe. In Matthew 14, we're in verse 28, we have a beautiful, flesh-and-blood example of how a follower of Jesus Christ ought to make every potentially dangerous decision.
In the midst of a turbulent storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus has appeared to the disciples, literally walking on the water toward them and calling them not to be afraid. The Bible says this: "'Lord, if it's You,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.' 'Come,' He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus." That's amazing!
And Peter would have kept walking on the water all the way to Jesus except for the fact that, well, he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm and that sank him. But I love Peter's faith here. He didn't know how he would be supported when he got out in the water. There's no visible means of support there. He only needed to know one thing. He said, "Lord, if it's You..."
That should be the bottom line for any of us - not the storm, not the risks, not all the fearful things that might happen, not our capabilities. Now, look, we're not burros. We're the sheep of the Great Shepherd, and you need have no fear of any place that the Great Shepherd is leading you.
At times, honestly, I've been hesitant to take a step that God was asking me to take because I perceived it to be what I called a "risky obedience." As it turns out, that's an oxymoron. There's only a risky disobedience. Not going where Jesus is leading? That's the greatest danger of all! I love the hymn that says, "I will tell the saints and angels as I lay my burden down, Jesus led me all the way."
Remember, no matter how fearful the road may look, "Through many dangers,
toils, and snares, you have already come. T'was grace that brought you safe thus far, and grace will lead you home."