Max Lucado Daily: A CROWD OF WITNESSES - May 12, 2021
God is “the God who gives endurance and encouragement” (Romans 15:5). God encourages us; so does Jesus. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the paraklétos, the noun form of the very word for encouragement.
Scripture encourages us. “The Scriptures,” according to Romans 15:4, “were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope.” The saints in heaven encourage us. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
A “crowd of witnesses” applauds from the heavens, calling on us to finish strong. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the holy Scriptures, the saints. God places a premium on encouragement, and it’s how happiness happens.
Genesis 16
Sarai, Abram’s wife, hadn’t yet produced a child.
She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, “God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her.” Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.
3-4 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place. He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.
5 Sarai told Abram, “It’s all your fault that I’m suffering this abuse. I put my maid in bed with you and the minute she knows she’s pregnant, she treats me like I’m nothing. May God decide which of us is right.”
6 “You decide,” said Abram. “Your maid is your business.”
Sarai was abusive to Hagar and Hagar ran away.
7-8 An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur. He said, “Hagar, maid of Sarai, what are you doing here?”
She said, “I’m running away from Sarai my mistress.”
9-12 The angel of God said, “Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse.” He continued, “I’m going to give you a big family, children past counting.
From this pregnancy, you’ll get a son: Name him Ishmael;
for God heard you, God answered you.
He’ll be a bucking bronco of a man,
a real fighter, fighting and being fought,
Always stirring up trouble,
always at odds with his family.”
13 She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me!
“Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!”
14 That’s how that desert spring got named “God-Alive-Sees-Me Spring.” That spring is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15-16 Hagar gave Abram a son. Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave him his son, Ishmael.
* * *
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Read: 1 Samuel 1:10–18; 2:1–2
10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
12 As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”
15 “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
Hannah’s Prayer
2 Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
in the Lord my horn[a] is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
Footnotes
1 Samuel 2:1 Horn here symbolizes strength; also in verse 10.
INSIGHT
As 1 Samuel opens, it’s the end of the time of the judges, but it’s not yet the time of kings. Bridging that gap will be Samuel, the son who would be born to Hannah after her season of prayer at the tabernacle in Shiloh (1:9–20). Samuel’s role in the transition from judges to kings would include the fact that he’s the last of the judges and the first of the prophets. As a prophet, he’d be responsible for anointing Israel’s first two kings: Saul, the kind of king the people wanted (10:17–24); and David, a man after God’s own heart (13:14).
By Xochitl Dixon
Renewed Vision
My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. 1 Samuel 2:1
After a painful minor surgery on my left eye, my doctor recommended a vision test. With confidence, I covered my right eye and read each line on the chart with ease. Covering my left eye, I gasped. How could I not realize I’d been so blind?
While adjusting to new glasses and renewed vision, I thought of how daily trials often caused me to be spiritually nearsighted. Focusing only on what I could see up-close—my pain and ever-changing circumstances—I became blind to the faithfulness of my eternal and unchanging God. With such a limited perspective, hope became an unattainable blur.
First Samuel 1 tells the story of another woman who failed to recognize God’s trustworthiness while focusing on her current anguish, uncertainty, and loss. For years, Hannah had endured childlessness and endless torment from Peninnah, the other wife of her husband Elkanah. Hannah’s husband adored her, but contentment evaded her. One day, she prayed with bitter honesty. When Eli the priest questioned her, she explained her situation. As she left, he prayed that God would grant her request (1 Samuel 1:17). Though Hannah’s situation didn’t change immediately, she walked away with confident hope (v. 18).
Her prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1–2 reveals a shift in Hannah’s focus. Even before her circumstances improved, Hannah’s renewed vision changed her perspective and her attitude. She rejoiced in the ongoing presence of God—her Rock and everlasting hope.
How will focusing on God’s unchanging nature instead of your circumstances give you greater hope? Where are you currently struggling with spiritual nearsightedness?
God, please renew my vision so I can focus on Your constant presence and live with an eternal perspective in all circumstances.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The Habit of Having No Habits
If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful… —2 Peter 1:8
When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. There are times when we are aware of becoming virtuous and godly, but this awareness should only be a stage we quickly pass through as we grow spiritually. If we stop at this stage, we will develop a sense of spiritual pride. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the Lord until they become such a spontaneous expression of our lives that we are no longer aware of them. Our spiritual life continually causes us to focus our attention inwardly for the determined purpose of self-examination, because each of us has some qualities we have not yet added to our lives.
Your god may be your little Christian habit— the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day. Watch how your Father will upset your schedule if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes. We say, “I can’t do that right now; this is my time alone with God.” No, this is your time alone with your habit. There is a quality that is still lacking in you. Identify your shortcoming and then look for opportunities to work into your life that missing quality.
Love means that there are no visible habits— that your habits are so immersed in the Lord that you practice them without realizing it. If you are consciously aware of your own holiness, you place limitations on yourself from doing certain things— things God is not restricting you from at all. This means there is a missing quality that needs to be added to your life. The only supernatural life is the life the Lord Jesus lived, and He was at home with God anywhere. Is there someplace where you are not at home with God? Then allow God to work through whatever that particular circumstance may be until you increase in Him, adding His qualities. Your life will then become the simple life of a child.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 15-16; John 3:1-18
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
You Drive Better When You're Being Watched - #8958
I was teaching my son to drive, I think. There were some pretty thrill-packed moments as he learned to drive. And there was a strange byproduct taking place as he learned to drive. My driving improved! Yes, and it needed it! See, we were living in the New York area. And when you're there, traffic tends to make you a little more careless about the right way to drive; the way you learn how to drive; the way the book says you ought to drive might be two different things when your survival is at stake, which it almost is constantly there.
Now, where I lived, driving was a challenge in itself. But nevertheless, I was always conscious of this pair of eyes watching me from the back seat, and I began to notice what I was doing when I was behind the wheel. This impressionable teenage boy wanted to know how his Dad was handling the wheel. He watched how I kept the speed limit, how I changed lanes, and how I approached cars from the rear, if I was tailgating. I was making an impression on my son, and frankly, I drove more carefully; the way I should drive all along.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Drive Better When You're Being Watched."
Our word for today from the Word of God is that simple familiar statement in 2 Corinthians 5:20. Maybe someone needs to be reminded of it today. It says, "We are Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." Now, it doesn't say we should be Christ's ambassadors, it says we are. You may say, "I don't want to be an ambassador." Well you are; it's just a fact.
In many countries the ambassador is the only thing people know about our country. They assume that America is like that ambassador who is an American, right? They may think America is a great place, and they may think America is a selfish place depending on what they think of the ambassador.
The sobering reality of your everyday life as a Christian is that people are sizing you up. They're seeing whether Jesus Christ is living through you; if this is a Jesus they would want. You say, "Well, I don't like that responsibility." You've got it! You can't get out of it. You hold the reputation of Jesus Christ in the way you live. Just like I was being watched as a driver by my son, you're always being watched in the way you drive your life.
You know what? My son watching me made me a better driver. You and I need to know how important our daily actions are, because someone needs to see the person of Jesus Christ in you. Sometimes we feel like, "Well, it doesn't matter if I do this." Oh, it does. It matters that you go out of your way to tell the truth. It matters that you reach out to that person who's down. It matters that you do try to keep your temper, that you keep your language clean.
You know, most people who ever come to Christ do it because of a Christian they know. Most people who never come to Christ - it's because of a Christian they know. It might be time to focus on one person that you want to take to heaven with you. When you do that, you realize that that person's eyes are on you and they have been on you.
But now you begin to base your actions on being Christ's ambassador; the face, the hands, the voice of Jesus in their life. Suddenly someone's depending on you, whether they know it or not. Their eternity may depend on how faithfully you follow Christ. And suddenly you see your faith as never before. You need God's Word now for daily strength to keep your life right; to keep your life an accurate, worthy representation of what Jesus is like.
What an incentive to know that you are Christ's ambassador, to give Him a good reputation in everything you say and everything you do. You base your whole life on Him now. If you're going to live out-of-bounds, remember you're Christ's ambassador.
His reputation is tied into everything you do, and you always drive better when you're being watched. You know what? You are.
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.