Judges 18, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Mud Moments - May 27, 2022

“After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. (John 9:6 NIV)

Now there is something you don’t expect to read in the Bible: Jesus spitting. A prayer would’ve seemed appropriate. Perhaps a “hallelujah!” But who expected a heavenly spit into the dirt? The God who sent manna and fire dispatched a blob of saliva. And as calmly as a painter spackles a hole in the wall, Jesus streaked miracle mud on the man’s eyes.

Sometimes God uses the less than-pleasant. He initiates the miracle through “mud moments”:  layoffs, letdowns, and bouts of loneliness. Can you relate? If so, do not assume that Jesus is absent or oblivious to your struggle. Just the opposite. He is using it to reveal himself to you. He wants you to see him. Remember friend, you are never alone.

Judges 18

The Danites Settle in Laish

In those days Israel had no king.

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”

So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. 3 When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

4 He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.”

5 Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

6 The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”

7 So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.[i] Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.[j]

8 When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”

9 They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. 10 When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.”

11 Then six hundred men of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12 On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan[k] to this day. 13 From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

14 Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.” 15 So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate.

18 When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

19 They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” 20 The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. 21 Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

22 When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

24 He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”

25 The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.

The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish. 30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses,[l] and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. 31 They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, May 27, 2022

Today's Scripture
Jeremiah 23:16–22

A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Don’t listen to the sermons of the prophets.

It’s all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies.

They make it all up.

Not a word they speak comes from me.

They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon

to congregations with no taste for God,

Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon

to people who are set in their own ways.

18–20     “Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me,

the true God?

bothered to take in what I have to say?

listened to and then lived out my Word?

Look out! God’s hurricane will be let loose—

my hurricane blast,

Spinning the heads of the wicked like tops!

God’s raging anger won’t let up

Until I’ve made a clean sweep,

completing the job I began.

When the job’s done,

you’ll see that it’s been well done.

Quit the “God Told Me This” Kind of Talk

21–22     “I never sent these prophets,

but they ran anyway.

I never spoke to them,

but they preached away.

If they’d have bothered to sit down and meet with me,

they’d have preached my Message to my people.

They’d have gotten them back on the right track,

gotten them out of their evil ruts.

nsight

In Jeremiah 23, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah against the “shepherds” (kings and priests, vv. 1–2) and prophets (vv. 9–40) for their continued disobedience and for leading the people astray. The shepherds were called to be godly leaders who guided and protected; instead, they’d destroyed and scattered “the sheep of [God’s] pasture” (v. 1). And rather than speaking God’s truths, the prophets “prophesied by Baal and led [God’s] people Israel astray” (v. 13). They “live[d] a lie” and strengthened “the hands of evildoers” so that they didn’t turn back “from their wickedness” (v. 14). God warned the people not to listen to the false prophets who weren’t speaking for God and offered only “false hopes” (v. 16). Because of their refusal to listen, Judah would be exiled at the hands of the Babylonians. Yet God wouldn’t forsake them forever (vv. 3–8). By: Alyson Kieda

The Forecaster’s Mistake

Let the one who has my word speak it faithfully.
Jeremiah 23:28

At noon on September 21, 1938, a young meteorologist warned the U.S. Weather Bureau of two fronts forcing a hurricane northward toward New England. But the chief of forecasting scoffed at Charles Pierce’s prediction. Surely a tropical storm wouldn’t strike so far north.

Two hours later, the 1938 New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island. By 4:00 p.m. it had reached New England, tossing ships onto land as homes crumbled into the sea. More than six hundred people died. Had the victims received Pierce’s warning—based on solid data and his detailed maps—they likely would have survived.

The concept of knowing whose word to heed has precedent in Scripture. In Jeremiah’s day, God warned His people against false prophets. “Do not listen [to them],” He said. “They fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16). God said of them, “If they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people” (v. 22).

“False prophets” are still with us. “Experts” dispense advice while ignoring God altogether or twisting His words to suit their purposes. But through His Word and Spirit, God has given us what we need to begin to discern the false from the true. As we gauge everything by the truth of His Word, our own words and lives will increasingly reflect that truth to others. By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

What’s the standard you use when you decide whether something is true? What in your attitude needs to change toward those who disagree with you?

Loving God, so many claim to speak for You these days. Help me learn what You really have to say. Make me sensitive to Your Spirit, not the spirit of this world.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 27, 2022

The Life To Know Him

…tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. —Luke 24:49

The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39— “…for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.

The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.

It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You…” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.

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: 2 Chronicles 1-3; John 10:1-23

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, May 27, 2022
How to Avoid a Spiritual Crash - #9230

I usually leave airplanes to the experts. I fly on commercial airplanes and I don't usually give a lot of thought to the maintenance or the flying of the plane - usually, but not on a very wintry day in Toronto. The plane was warming up at the gate, all the passengers were seated. I was as usual really busy at work until I glanced out of the window at the wing which was covered with snow and getting more covered. Now look, I don't know a lot about airplanes technically, but I know you have to de-ice them before you take-off. Yeah, a little ice on the wings affects the lift on an aircraft and causes you to go "boom." Now, I'm used to the de-icer truck taking care of things at the gate before we leave, and we were preparing to leave the gate iced and snowed. Finally, the pilot told us that they would do that on the runway which is actually a better idea. But I told my wife later that if they hadn't done something about those wings, I was off that plane. I mean, it's unbelievable how much damage a thin layer of ice can do.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Avoid a Spiritual Crash."

Our word for today from the Word of God is about, well I guess you could say, crash prevention in your life. Hebrews 12:1-2 - "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus." Actually this verse is talking about a runner not a flyer, but the principal is still the same: get rid of anything that's slowing you down or hindering you. I think pilots call it drag.

Now in terms of your commitment to live for Christ, are there too many days when you've crashed? The same old sinful attitudes or thoughts; same old reactions keep tripping you up? Or you go through the day depressed and discouraged instead of with the joy you used to have. Or you just forget about God a lot of the day. Your crashes haven't been fatal, but they've done too much damage. The problem may be a thin coating of sin, a compromise on your wings. It doesn't take much to bring you down. That's why the Bible says to deal with it forcefully and aggressively. It says, "throw it off." Personal purity is not a passive thing. It actively attacks anything that's a drag on your flight plan of following Jesus.

Every new day means another take-off into that day - people, pressures, temptations. Before you leave the gate, be sure you de-ice. Spiritual flight preparation means you get on your knees before your Savior and you pray through what you know will be the temptations of that day. Anticipate them; walk through them with Jesus before you get to them. Claim His power for each one. Commit yourself to send Him to the door when that temptation knocks.

There are going to be surprises, but you'll be ready for them if you've prepared yourself for the ones you know are coming. One major source of spiritual ice on your wings is a negative, complaining attitude. Has there been too much of that? It will make everything look dark all day long. Lose it at the beginning of the day and replace it with praise and thanks.

De-icing also means checking your motives before you take off. Ask the Lord to expose any things you might be doing for your own glory, or out of bitterness, or jealousy, or to get your own way. Throw it off! And ask the Lord to show you where there's any breakage in your relationships, and make that right with God and then later make it right with that person.

As you examine your day looking at it through Jesus' eyes, you'll begin to see the weight that can bring you down. Get rid of it there before you're airborne and it's too late. You can prevent a lot of crashes if you deal with what could cause a crash before you ever take off.