Max Lucado Daily: THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD
Do-it-yourself Christianity isn’t much encouragement to the done-in and worn-out. “Try a little harder” is little encouragement for the abused. At some point we need more than good advice; we need help. Somewhere on this journey we realize that the fifty-fifty proposition is too little. We need help from the inside out. The kind of help Jesus promised. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it does not see him or know him. But know him, because he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).
Note the dwelling place of God: in you. Not near us, above us. But in us. In the hidden recesses of our beings dwells not an angel, not a philosophy, not a genie, but God. Imagine that.
Nehemiah 1
The memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.
It was the month of Kislev in the twentieth year. At the time I was in the palace complex at Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, had just arrived from Judah with some fellow Jews. I asked them about the conditions among the Jews there who had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem.
3 They told me, “The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still rubble; the city gates are still cinders.”
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven.
5-6 I said, “God, God-of-Heaven, the great and awesome God, loyal to his covenant and faithful to those who love him and obey his commands: Look at me, listen to me. Pay attention to this prayer of your servant that I’m praying day and night in intercession for your servants, the People of Israel, confessing the sins of the People of Israel. And I’m including myself, I and my ancestors, among those who have sinned against you.
7-9 “We’ve treated you like dirt: We haven’t done what you told us, haven’t followed your commands, and haven’t respected the decisions you gave to Moses your servant. All the same, remember the warning you posted to your servant Moses: ‘If you betray me, I’ll scatter you to the four winds, but if you come back to me and do what I tell you, I’ll gather up all these scattered peoples from wherever they ended up and put them back in the place I chose to mark with my Name.’
10-11 “Well, there they are—your servants, your people whom you so powerfully and impressively redeemed. O Master, listen to me, listen to your servant’s prayer—and yes, to all your servants who delight in honoring you—and make me successful today so that I get what I want from the king.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Read: Exodus 12:12–19
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.
17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel.
INSIGHT
In preparation for the last plague on Egypt, God told His people to slaughter a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts of their houses (Exodus 12:1–13). God’s angel of death would move across Egypt and take the lives of all firstborn sons but would pass over any household with the sprinkled blood. The lamb was then roasted and eaten along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The unleavened bread signified Israel’s haste to leave Egypt. When leaven was added to dough, it would take hours for the dough to rise before baking. The Israelites didn’t have time to wait for the dough to rise. The herbs symbolized the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
Got Your Nose - By Mike Wittmer
I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. Exodus 12:12
“Why are the statues’ noses broken?” That’s the number one question visitors ask Edward Bleiberg, curator of Egyptian art at the Brooklyn Museum.
Bleiberg can’t blame it on normal wear and tear; even two-dimensional painted figures are missing noses. He surmises that such destruction must have been intentional. Enemies meant to kill Egypt’s gods. It’s as if they were playing a game of “got your nose” with them. Invading armies broke off the noses of these idols so they couldn’t breathe.
Really? That’s all it took? With gods like these, Pharaoh should have known he was in trouble. Yes, he had an army and the allegiance of a whole nation. The Hebrews were weary slaves led by a timid fugitive named Moses. But Israel had the living God, and Pharaoh’s gods were pretenders. Ten plagues later, their imaginary lives were snuffed out.
Israel celebrated their victory with the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when they ate bread without yeast for a week (Exodus 12:17; 13:7–9). Yeast symbolizes sin, and God wanted His people to remember their rescued lives belong entirely to Him.
Our Father says to idols, “Got your nose,” and to His children, “Got your life.” Serve the God who gives you breath, and rest in His loving arms.
What false god is suffocating your life? How might you show God you’re trusting only in Him?
Father of life, I give You my life. Help me recognize that any perceived “enemies” in my life are nothing compared to Your power.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Holiness or Hardness Toward God?
He…wondered that there was no intercessor… —Isaiah 59:16
The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial— that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.
Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Philippians 2:5). Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshiping God or disputing Him when we say, “But God, I just don’t see how you are going to do this”? This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don’t worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.
Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?
Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work— work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls. Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him. Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L
Bible in a Year: Judges 9-10; Luke 5:17-39
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
The Final Exam - #8927
There are two words that send a shudder through almost everyone who is either in school or was ever in school, because you remember the fear that goes with these words. And if you're currently a student, you don't have to remember them at all; you're right there living with them. The words - final exam! A chill just goes through the room when you hear those words.
There are two words that send a shudder through almost everyone who is either in school or was ever in school, because you remember the fear that goes with these words. And if you're currently a student, you don't have to remember them at all; you're right there living with them. The words - final exam! A chill just goes through the room when you hear those words.
Now, different students have learned different ways of dealing with final exam time. You remember the teacher that said that the exam was going to be on the honor system. The only problem was that the teachers had the honor and the students had the system.
Well, occasionally you'll hear of an incident where students actually get a copy of an exam, take a peek at the questions so they can be prepared. Well, I don't recommend that as a good way to go through finals, but I do want to tell you this: whatever your situation as far as being a student is concerned, you have a final exam scheduled for you. Yep, in fact, it's scheduled for all of us. Now, our final exam will come at different times. I don't know when mine will be or yours. But you know what? I've taken a peek at the one question on the exam, and you can be ready for this one.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Final Exam."
Our word for today from the Word of God is a peek at that final exam. It says in Hebrews 2:3, "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" See, this is looking ahead to the time when we're going to stand before God and have to answer that final exam question related to and what we did with this wonderful thing He describes as "such great salvation."
Now, what He's referring to is what happened on that middle cross outside of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, when the only son God has, took my rap - took your rap - and paid our payment for our sins so we could get back into the orbit we were built to live in; an orbit around God.
You notice here it says that we neglect salvation. Now, that's the way that most good things end up being wasted. I mean, you don't say, "Oh, I think I'm going to grow some weeds in my garden this year. Yeah, I'd like to see what kind of weed crop I can get?" No, the way weeds grow is by neglect. You don't intend to grow them. How about your weight? I'm sorry to bring that up, but I'm an expert on this. A lot of times the old pounds just start piling up again, and you know, you don't ever say, "I want to gain ten pounds this month." It's just done through neglect; it just kind of creeps up. We didn't mean to do it; we didn't do anything, it just happened. We just didn't exercise! We didn't control our eating.
How about our car? All of a sudden our car grinds to a halt and starts smoking. Why? You neglected the maintenance. You didn't do anything bad; you just didn't do what you could have done. The same thing holds true for marriages - they can die from neglect.
Okay now, about neglecting such a great salvation. Do you know that most people don't reject Christ; they just neglect Him. They've got other things to think about until they neglect themselves right into eternity. That could be something you're in danger of right now. You're not against Jesus; you're just neglecting making your peace with Him.
Do you want to know that question on your final exam when you keep your appointment with God? He's going to ask you, "What did you do with My Son?" No, not what did you do with your church, or your religion, or that guy on the radio. "What did you do with My Son?" That's the issue that will settle your eternal address, because what God cares about most is what His Son did for you.
His death on the cross is your only hope of getting into heaven, because you can't get into heaven with your sin. It can only be forgiven by the One who paid for it. That's Jesus! You've got to grab Him and take that gift of eternal life. And maybe you've been sitting around church for years; you've been through all kinds of opportunities to do something with Jesus. But you've passed them by. Today's your day to change your eternal address. Would you just say, "Jesus, this is my day I'm making you "the Savior" of my sin."
And let me encourage you, then, to go to our website. There's where you can nail down belonging to Him. It's ANewStory.com.
Maybe you've had opportunities to reach out to Christ before and you didn't. Isn't it time to say now, "This is my day, Lord. I give my life to You." He made His move on the cross. It's your move now.
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.