Max Lucado Daily: AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU - June 22, 2021
The Scripture says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
It was the eve of the Crucifixion and Jesus’ final meal with his followers. He stood up, he hung his cloak on a hook, and he wrapped a towel around his waist, and he poured water into a basin. He washed feet. Jesus used some of his precious final moments in this silent sacrament of humility.
The disciples pledged to stay with their Master. But later that night, when the soldiers marched in, the disciples ran out. And when they looked at their feet in shame, they realized Jesus forgave his betrayers before they betrayed him. Hasn’t he done the same for us? We each have a basin. We’ve each been wounded. But before we knew we needed grace, we were offered it. This is how happiness happens.
Job 22Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2
“Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3
What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
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“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
5
Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6
You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
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You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
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though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9
And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10
That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11
why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
12
“Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13
Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14
Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15
Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16
They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
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They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
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Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
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The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
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‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
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“Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
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Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
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If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
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and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
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then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
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Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
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You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28
What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
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When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
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He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Read: Genesis 28:10–15, 20–22
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[a] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[b] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Footnotes
Genesis 28:13 Or There beside him
Genesis 28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)
INSIGHT
The significance of the words, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Genesis 28:14), must not be lost in the dynamics of Jacob’s dream. Jacob wasn’t the first to hear God’s promise concerning the destiny of his offspring. Similar words were communicated to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, in Genesis 12:3 (see also 22:16–18) and to Isaac (26:3–4). In the New Testament, Peter pointed to this promise in his preaching (Acts 3:25–26; see Genesis 22:18; 26:4). Paul’s writings similarly show that these promises found their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus (Galatians 3:16).
By Tim Gustafson
God Is There
If God will be with me and watch over me . . . then the Lord will be my God. Genesis 28:20–21
Aubrey bought a fleece-lined coat for her aging father, but he died before he could wear it. So she tucked a note of encouragement with a $20 bill into the pocket and donated the jacket to charity.
Ninety miles away, unable to endure his family’s dysfunction any longer, nineteen-year-old Kelly left his house without grabbing a coat. He knew of only one place to turn—the home of his grandmother who prayed for him. Hours later he stepped off a bus and into his grandma’s arms. Shielding him from the winter wind, she said, “We’ve got to get you a coat!” At the mission store, Kelly tried on a coat he liked. Slipping his hands into the pockets he found an envelope—with a $20 bill and Aubrey’s note.
Jacob fled his dysfunctional family in fear for his life (Genesis 27:41–45). When he stopped for the night, God revealed Himself to Jacob in a dream. “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go,” God told him (28:15). Jacob vowed, “If God will . . . give me food to eat and clothes to wear . . . , then the Lord will be my God” (vv. 20–21).
Jacob made a rudimentary altar and named the spot “God’s house” (v. 22). Kelly takes Aubrey’s note and that $20 wherever he goes. Each serves as a reminder that no matter where we run, God is there.
When you’ve had to “run,” whether literally or metaphorically, where did you go and to whom did you turn? How can you remind yourself of God’s presence in your life?
Father, You’re the One I can always run to. Help me turn to You first.
Read Who’s My Neighbor? at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0308.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
The Unchanging Law of Judgment
With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. —Matthew 7:2
This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give will be the very way you are judged. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus said that the basis of life is retribution— “with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” If you have been shrewd in finding out the shortcomings of others, remember that will be exactly how you will be measured. The way you pay is the way life will pay you back. This eternal law works from God’s throne down to us (see Psalm 18:25-26).
Romans 2:1 applies it in even a more definite way by saying that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act itself, but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at our hearts. To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we really believe the statement that says we criticize in others the very things we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuineness in others is that they are all in our own hearts. The greatest characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, “Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would have been exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge.”
Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). He went on to say, in effect, “If you do judge, you will be judged in exactly the same way.” Who of us would dare to stand before God and say, “My God, judge me as I have judged others”? We have judged others as sinners— if God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L
Bible in a Year: Esther 6-8; Acts 6
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Your "No Vacancy" Sign - #8987
You always have to hold your breath when your little children are with other adults, because you never know what they might reveal about life at home. It pays to live with nothing to hide. Right? A friend was babysitting his three-year-old grandson not long ago, and this little guy kept the conversation active with a stream of consciousness, a series of comments on a lot of subjects. Suddenly the three-year-old brought up things he wanted to do when he was an adult. One of them was potentially a little revealing. He said, "I'm going to have an office in my house, and I'm going to tell my children not to bother me." Oooo! His daddy has an office in the house. I wonder if this little guy learned that script at home?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your 'No Vacancy' Sign."
Over the years, you've probably driven to some motel all tired and very ready to stop, only to be greeted by that discouraging sign, "No Vacancy." Unfortunately, we sometimes do that to our children and our spouse. We hang out a "no vacancy" sign that says, "I don't have any room for you right now." If it happens pretty often, you could have one very sad, very frustrated, and maybe a very explosive family.
Honestly, there are those times when we do need to close the door and focus. But it can't help any child to be associated with the word "bother." You can explain why you need to work without interruption, as long as they know that you're available if they really need you, and as long as you let them know when you will be available. But in too many homes, this business of being unavailable to the people who need us most is not the exception. It's like a way of life. And without meaning to, we may be telling someone we love very much that whatever always takes you away is more important to you than they are. After all, you keep leaving them and excluding them to do it. Right?
There's a wonderful blueprint for human relationships in Ephesians, chapters 4 and 5. In chapter 5, beginning with verse 1, our word for today from the Word of God, we get a fundamental equation of what it means to love someone. It says, "Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a...sacrifice to God." The equation is simple but challenging: "love equals sacrifice." And sacrifice means giving something you really value for the person you love.
In your busy life, there might be nothing you have less of than time. And your time, your availability, is what your children and your spouse need most. To love them is to give them time you think you don't have because no one else on earth can be daddy or mommy to them; no one else can be husband or wife. It's really the only role in your life where you're irreplaceable and indispensable.
In a later verse, this passage tells us to "submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." That submit word means to put someone ahead of you. Then it proceeds to talk about husbands, wives, children, and parents - all of whom, as God's kind of person, will put the other ahead of themselves.
Your family needs your availability to them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It's best if you actually offer your availability to them right away, then they don't have to burn down the house or raise the roof to get your attention. You gave it willingly. Make it a goal to take time with each one to make them feel like the only person in the world at that moment. Think about each one's emotional ledger. Every time you're unavailable or gone, there's a debit in their life. So you need to consciously and as soon as possible, balance that account with the credit of some focused time with them.
Don't make your child, your husband, your wife feel shut out of your life by an invisible but very real "no vacancy" sign. Just always have room for them even if it means sacrifice. People who know they're loved and important and listened to don't have to start looking somewhere else for what you didn't give them - somewhere that could scar their life and break your heart.