, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHAT’S YOUR PRICE? -
Some years ago, I read a study of what most Americans would do in exchange for ten million dollars. Among the options were abandon their family, abandon their church, give up their citizenship, leave their spouse or their children. It’s not surprising to me what someone would do for ten million dollars. What’s surprising is that most would do something. What would you do? Or better, what are you doing?
“Get real, Max,” you’re saying, “I’ve never had a shot at ten million.” The amount may not have been the same, but the choices are. And some people are willing to give up their family, faith, or morals for far less than ten million dollars. Jesus had a word for that: greed. He called it the practice of measuring life by possessions (Luke 12:15). Jesus cautioned against “all kinds of greed.” What’s your price?
Revelation 13
The Beast from the Sea
And the Dragon stood on the shore of the sea. I saw a Beast rising from the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads—on each horn a crown, and each head inscribed with a blasphemous name. The Beast I saw looked like a leopard with bear paws and a lion’s mouth. The Dragon turned over its power to it, its throne and great authority.
3-4 One of the Beast’s heads looked as if it had been struck a deathblow, and then healed. The whole earth was agog, gaping at the Beast. They worshiped the Dragon who gave the Beast authority, and they worshiped the Beast, exclaiming, “There’s never been anything like the Beast! No one would dare go to war with the Beast!”
5-8 The Beast had a loud mouth, boastful and blasphemous. It could do anything it wanted for forty-two months. It yelled blasphemies against God, blasphemed his Name, blasphemed his Church, especially those already dwelling with God in Heaven. It was permitted to make war on God’s holy people and conquer them. It held absolute sway over all tribes and peoples, tongues and races. Everyone on earth whose name was not written from the world’s foundation in the slaughtered Lamb’s Book of Life will worship the Beast.
9-10 Are you listening to this? They’ve made their bed; now they must lie in it. Anyone marked for prison goes straight to prison; anyone pulling a sword goes down by the sword. Meanwhile, God’s holy people passionately and faithfully stand their ground.
The Beast from Under the Ground
11-12 I saw another Beast rising out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb but sounded like a dragon when it spoke. It was a puppet of the first Beast, made earth and everyone in it worship the first Beast, which had been healed of its deathblow.
13-17 This second Beast worked magical signs, dazzling people by making fire come down from Heaven. It used the magic it got from the Beast to dupe earth dwellers, getting them to make an image of the Beast that received the deathblow and lived. It was able to animate the image of the Beast so that it talked, and then arrange that anyone not worshiping the Beast would be killed. It forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on the right hand or forehead. Without the mark of the name of the Beast or the number of its name, it was impossible to buy or sell anything.
18 Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the Beast. It’s a human number: 666.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Read: Ephesians 2:4–10
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
INSIGHT
In Ephesians, we learn that it’s because of the grace of God that we’ve been saved (kept from eternal separation from God), through our faith (wholehearted trust) in His Son (2:5, 8). What is grace? Grace is an undeserved, freely given “gift” (v. 8). It isn’t earned through anything we do. It’s not by our good works or kind actions (v. 9; Romans 11:5–6). Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty we deserved because of our sins (wrongdoings) and made a way for us to be with Him for eternity (John 3:16–18). Because of His sacrifice, we have “peace with God” (Romans 5:1). In Psalms we find a wonderful description of God’s grace: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him” (Psalm 103:10–11; see Ephesians 2:4).
Small Yet Mighty -By Monica La Rose
We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Ephesians 2:10
There are times late at night in North America’s harsh Sonoran Desert where one can hear a faint, high-pitched howl. But you probably wouldn’t suspect the source of the sound—the small yet mighty grasshopper mouse, howling at the moon to establish its territory.
This unique rodent (dubbed the “werewolf mouse”) is also carnivorous. In fact, it preys on creatures few would dare mess with, such as the scorpion. But the werewolf mouse is uniquely equipped for that particular battle. It not only has a resistance to scorpion venom but can even convert the toxins into a painkiller!
There’s something inspiring about the way this resilient little mouse seems custom-made to survive and even thrive in its harsh environment. As Paul explains in Ephesians 2:10, that kind of marvelous craftsmanship characterizes God’s designs for His people as well. Each of us is “God’s handiwork” in Jesus, uniquely equipped to contribute to His kingdom. No matter how God has gifted you, you have much to offer. As you embrace with confidence who He’s made you to be, you’ll be a living witness to the hope and joy of life in Him.
So as you face whatever feels most menacing in your own life, take courage. You may feel small, but through the gifting and empowerment of the Spirit, God can use you to do mighty things.
Is it easy or difficult for you to see yourself as God’s marvelous handiwork? Why? In what areas of your life might remembering this truth give you renewed confidence and courage?
God, thank You for the incredible way You’ve designed me to live with joy and purpose. Help me to believe, and find courage in, the truth of who I am in You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Will I Bring Myself Up to This Level?
…perfecting holiness in the fear of God. —2 Corinthians 7:1
“Therefore, having these promises….” I claim God’s promises for my life and look to their fulfillment, and rightly so, but that shows only the human perspective on them. God’s perspective is that through His promises I will come to recognize His claim of ownership on me. For example, do I realize that my “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,” or am I condoning some habit in my body which clearly could not withstand the light of God on it? (1 Corinthians 6:19). God formed His Son in me through sanctification, setting me apart from sin and making me holy in His sight (see Galatians 4:19). But I must begin to transform my natural life into spiritual life by obedience to Him. God instructs us even in the smallest details of life. And when He brings you conviction of sin, do not “confer with flesh and blood,” but cleanse yourself from it at once (Galatians 1:16). Keep yourself cleansed in your daily walk.
I must cleanse myself from all filthiness in my flesh and my spirit until both are in harmony with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I mentally rebellious and defiant? Am I allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in me? (see Philippians 2:5). Christ never spoke of His right to Himself, but always maintained an inner vigilance to submit His spirit continually to His Father. I also have the responsibility to keep my spirit in agreement with His Spirit. And when I do, Jesus gradually lifts me up to the level where He lived— a level of perfect submission to His Father’s will— where I pay no attention to anything else. Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God having His way with me, and are people beginning to see God in my life more and more?
Be serious in your commitment to God and gladly leave everything else alone. Literally put God first in your life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not fundamentally free; external circumstances are not in our hands, they are in God’s hands, the one thing in which we are free is in our personal relationship to God. We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be. Conformed to His Image, 354 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 32-34; Mark 15:26-47
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 18, 2021
The Peace of Releasing the Wheel - #8919
Oh, give me a break. It's not like I'm the only man in the world with this control thing. I mean, it's probably part of our wiring to be in control, huh? Like driving. If you've got four guys traveling together, you usually have four people who want to drive, but that makes the front seat awfully crowded. When a family's going on a long trip, many men make it very clear, "I'll drive." I'm one of those guys who doesn't like to ride very much. I do like to drive. But a while back, I learned a valuable lesson about this "must drive" neurosis. We had an all-day trip ahead of us and I had a full day of preparation for speaking and radio programs. I find that's hard to do with a steering wheel in your hand. Yeah, something the National Safety Council would not be excited about. So my wife drove the whole trip while I buried myself in my work. I got so much done!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Peace of Releasing the Wheel."
I learned a lesson that day that I've applied to a number of other trips. You get so much more done when someone else is driving. Great things happen when you finally let go of the wheel and let someone else take it. Especially if the someone else is the One who was supposed to be driving all along. Yeah, that would be the God who gave you your life. He's supposed to be driving your life.
But we'd rather do the driving ourselves. Oh, sure, we don't mind having God as a passenger in our life. It's nice to have Him along. Just as long as He doesn't have the wheel. And me driving the life that God gave me is exactly what the Bible means when it talks about our "sin" - me driving when God was supposed to. Taking my life where I want it to go instead of where He created it to go. Doing what I feel like doing with my life instead of living as I was made to live. If you're wondering why you never seem to get to the destination you've been looking for, if you're wondering why you feel lost, why there have been costly crashes, it's because the wrong person is driving.
Here's how the Bible describes how we get lost and then get stuck on a road that's going nowhere. It's in Isaiah 53:6, our word for today from
the Word of God. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way." Turning to our own way means we are literally turning our back to God, the author of our life. The issue of control now becomes a life-or-death issue. Because if we insist on driving, our life will inevitably go over the cliff into an awful eternity without God, all because we had to be in control - because we had to drive.
Thank God, He did what it took to make it possible for us to turn around. To be forgiven instead of condemned. To go to heaven instead of hell. That Bible verse about us going our way concludes with God's loving answer: "The Lord has laid on Him (that's talking about Jesus) the iniquity (or the wrongdoing) of us all." The verse before it tells what it took for us to have a chance to live instead of die. Listen to this: "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him." That day Jesus allowed them to hang Him on a cross, He was absorbing all the punishment for all the sinning that you've ever done. Because that's how much He loves you.
And now you have an opportunity to have every sin of your life erased from God's book, and trade hell for heaven. Jesus comes into your life when you tell Him, as a song once said, "Jesus, take the wheel." You put your trust in Him because He gave His life for you. He doesn't ride - He drives. It's time to give Him the wheel.
If you want to begin this relationship with him, a great place for you to find out how to do that is our website. Would you go there? It's ANewStory.com.
You've been driving long enough. It's time to let Jesus drive. You'll have this wonderful peace, you'll go where you were created to go, and your final destination - it will be awesome.
From my daily reading of the bible, Our Daily Bread Devotionals, My Utmost for His Highest and Ron Hutchcraft "A Word with You" and occasionally others.