Max Lucado Daily: THE PRICE IS TOO HIGH
In the days when I was a missionary in Brazil I once went to visit one of our church leaders. We hadn’t seen him for several Sundays. Friends told me he had inherited three hundred dollars, and he was constructing, by hand, a one-room house. When he gave me a tour of the project, it took about twenty seconds. I told him we’d missed him, that the church needed him back. He grew quiet and turned and looked at his house. His eyes were moist. “You’re right, Max,” he confessed. “I guess I got just too greedy.”
“Greedy?” I wanted to say, “You’re building a hut in a swamp and you call it greed?” But he was right. Greed is relative. Greed is not defined by what something costs; it is measured by what it costs you. If anything costs you your family, or your faith, the price is too high.
Esther 6
That night the king couldn’t sleep. He ordered the record book, the day-by-day journal of events, to be brought and read to him. They came across the story there about the time that Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh—the two royal eunuchs who guarded the entrance and who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
3 The king asked, “What great honor was given to Mordecai for this?”
“Nothing,” replied the king’s servants who were in attendance. “Nothing has been done for him.”
4 The king said, “Is there anybody out in the court?”
Now Haman had just come into the outer court of the king’s palace to talk to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had built for him.
5 The king’s servants said, “Haman is out there, waiting in the court.”
“Bring him in,” said the king.
6-9 When Haman entered, the king said, “What would be appropriate for the man the king especially wants to honor?”
Haman thought to himself, “He must be talking about honoring me—who else?” So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, do this: Bring a royal robe that the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crown on its head. Then give the robe and the horse to one of the king’s most noble princes. Have him robe the man whom the king especially wants to honor; have the prince lead him on horseback through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king especially wants to honor!’”
10 “Go and do it,” the king said to Haman. “Don’t waste another minute. Take the robe and horse and do what you have proposed to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the King’s Gate. Don’t leave out a single detail of your plan.”
11 So Haman took the robe and horse; he robed Mordecai and led him through the city square, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king especially wants to honor!”
12-13 Then Mordecai returned to the King’s Gate, but Haman fled to his house, thoroughly mortified, hiding his face. When Haman had finished telling his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his knowledgeable friends who were there and his wife Zeresh said, “If this Mordecai is in fact a Jew, your bad luck has only begun. You don’t stand a chance against him—you’re as good as ruined.”
14 While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman off to the dinner that Esther had prepared.
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Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 19, 2021
Read: Romans 15:23–33
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
INSIGHT
The book of Acts tells us that Paul desired to go to Rome to minister (19:21). During his three-month stay in Corinth at the end of his third missionary journey (20:2–3), he wrote to the Roman believers in Jesus about his proposed visit and to solicit support for his future work in Spain (Romans 1:10–15; 15:23–24, 28–29). Giving a summary of his missionary work and his future plans (15:14–33), the apostle said he had proclaimed the gospel of Christ “from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum [modern-day Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Albania]” (v. 19). But not ready to retire just yet, Paul intended to push further west all the way to Spain, visiting Rome on the way (v. 28).
The Purple Shawl - By Xochitl Dixon
I urge you . . . to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Romans 15:30
While serving as my mom’s live-in caregiver at a cancer center hundreds of miles away from my home, I asked people to pray for us. As the months passed, isolation and loneliness sapped my strength. How could I care for my mom if I gave in to my physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion?
One day, a friend sent me an unexpected care package. Jodi had crocheted a purple prayer shawl, a warm reminder that we had people praying for us daily. Whenever I wrapped the soft yarn around my shoulders, I felt God hugging me with the prayers of His people. Years later, He still uses that purple shawl to comfort me and strengthen my resolve.
The apostle Paul affirmed the importance and spirit-refreshing power of praying for others. Through his passionate request for prayerful support and encouragement during his travels, Paul demonstrated how those who pray for others become partners in ministry (Romans 15:30). Offering specific requests, the apostle not only showed his dependence on the support of fellow believers but his trust that God powerfully answers prayer (vv. 31–33).
We’ll all experience days when we feel alone. But Paul shows us how to ask for prayer as we pray for others. When we’re wrapped in the intercessory prayers of God’s people, we can experience God’s strength and comfort no matter where life takes us.
Who has God used to encourage you through intercessory prayer? Who can you pray for today?
Loving God, thank You for the gift of intercessory prayers and for assuring me that You hear me and care for me wherever I go.
Read Moving Mountains: The Practice of Persistent Prayer at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0740.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 19, 2021
Abraham’s Life of Faith
He went out, not knowing where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8
In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26.
Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason— a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.
The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith— a faith, tested and true, built on the true God. “Abraham believed God…” (Romans 4:3).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
Bible in a Year: Joshua 1-3; Mark 16
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 19, 2021
Setting the Temperature - #8920
It was so cold in the house when I woke up that bitter winter morning. The thermometer announced to me it was like 40-some degrees in the house! I mean, my kids had some good laughs and some rare comments when they saw me praying that morning in front of an open stove in the kitchen. Look, it was the only warm place in the house! Well, Mr. Furnace came over, and he checked things out and informed us that we needed a new thermostat. As soon as our thermostat was working, the thermometer had better news for us; the house was warming up again! It is amazing what a difference a functioning thermostat can make!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Setting the Temperature."
Now, in your family, or your church, where you work, with your friends you're either a thermostat or a thermometer. A thermometer simply reflects the temperature around them. A thermostat sets the temperature. Too often, we're thermometers, aren't we? If it's hot around us, we get hot. If people are cold, we're cold. If things are stressed, we're stressed. If things are dark, we're discouraged. If things are tough, we're defeated.
But with the God of the universe living inside you, you have the power; you have the responsibility to be the thermostat in your situation. God has given us a wonderful picture of what thermostatic living looks like in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Genesis 39 beginning with verse 2. Joseph has been attacked by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt. He becomes a slave in the home of one of Egypt's top military leaders, Potiphar.
The Bible says, "When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes ... Potiphar put him in charge of his household and he entrusted to his care everything he owned." Well, Joseph's got a great situation here, huh? But suddenly it turns ugly when Potiphar's wife tries to seduce him and he refuses her. She accuses him of the very thing he refused to do, and Potiphar has him thrown into prison. So the Bible says, "While Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him...and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison" - sound familiar here? - "and he was made responsible for all that was done there."
That's pretty amazing! You put Joseph in a great situation and he's the trusted person, the one who says yes to responsibility. Put him in a terrible situation, he's the same guy; making things better, changing his environment, setting a positive climate. That's a thermostat. And that's what the people around you need you to be. Grownup people, godly people, make-a-difference people respond to situations, not from the environment around them or the feelings inside them, but from the character inside them - the Lord who's inside them!
Why don't you try being yourself what you wish others would be? Don't wait for them to be that way. Set the temperature; treat the people around you as you want to be treated and as you'd like them to treat others. Keep your commitments, carry your load, spread
joy. Spread hope, gentleness, encouragement no matter what everyone else is spreading.
The Lord was with Joseph in the great place and in the awful place. Just like He is with you, which means you could be the stabilizer, the thermostat, the climate-setter, the difference maker wherever you are, and you will set the temperature where God wants it to be!
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.