Max Lucado Daily: At Home in Christ - January 4, 2022
Odds are that you know what it means to be at home somewhere. To be at home is to feel safe. The residence is a place of refuge and security. To be at home is to be comfortable. You can pad around wearing slippers and a robe. To be at home is to be familiar. When you enter the door, you needn’t consult the blueprint to find the kitchen.
Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4). Our aim is to be at home in Christ. He is our place of refuge and security. We are comfortable in his presence, free to be our authentic selves. His roof of grace protects us from storms of guilt. His walls of providence secure us from destructive winds. His fireplace warms us during the lonely winters of life. He is our home.
Numbers 8
The Lights
God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron, Install the seven lamps so they will throw light in front of the Lampstand.”
3-4 Aaron did just that. He installed the lamps so they threw light in front of the Lampstand, as God had instructed Moses. The Lampstand was made of hammered gold from its stem to its petals. It was made precisely to the design God had shown Moses.
Purifying the Levites
5-7 God spoke to Moses: “Take the Levites from the midst of the People of Israel and purify them for doing God’s work. This is the way you will do it: Sprinkle water of absolution on them; have them shave their entire bodies; have them scrub their clothes. Then they will have purified themselves.
8-11 “Have them take a young bull with its accompanying Grain-Offering of fine flour mixed with oil, plus a second young bull for an Absolution-Offering. Bring the Levites to the front of the Tent of Meeting and gather the entire community of Israel. Present the Levites before God as the People of Israel lay their hands on them. Aaron will present the Levites before God as a Wave-Offering from the People of Israel so that they will be ready to do God’s work.
12-14 “Have the Levites place their hands on the heads of the bulls, selecting one for the Absolution-Offering and another for the Whole-Burnt-Offering to God to make atonement for the Levites. Then have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and present them as a Wave-Offering to God. This is the procedure for setting apart the Levites from the rest of the People of Israel; the Levites are exclusively for my use.
15-19 “After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a Wave-Offering to God, they can go to work in the Tent of Meeting. The Levites have been selected out of the People of Israel for my exclusive use; they function in place of every firstborn male born to an Israelite woman. Every firstborn male in Israel, animal or human, is set apart for my use. When I struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, I consecrated them for my holy uses. But now I take the Levites as stand-ins in place of every firstborn son in Israel, selected out of the People of Israel, and I have given the Levites to Aaron and his sons to do all the work involved in the Tent of Meeting on behalf of all the People of Israel and to make atonement for them so that nothing bad will happen to them when they approach the Sanctuary.”
20-22 Moses, Aaron, and the entire community of the People of Israel carried out these procedures with the Levites, just as God had commanded Moses. The Levites purified themselves and scrubbed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a Wave-Offering before God and made atonement for them to purify them. Only then did the Levites go to work at the Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons supervised them following the directions God had given.
23-26 God spoke to Moses: “These are your instructions regarding the Levites: At the age of twenty-five they will join the workforce in the Tent of Meeting; at the age of fifty they must retire from the work. They can assist their brothers in the tasks in the Tent of Meeting, but they are not permitted to do the actual work themselves. These are the ground rules for the work of the Levites.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 04, 2022
Today's Scripture
Matthew 7:24–27
(NIV)
The Wise and Foolish Builders
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practicei is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Insight
The last section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) contains the parable of the wise and foolish builders (7:24–27). It’s important to note that this parable begins with the word therefore, a word which always connects what follows to what directly precedes it. It indicates a consequence or a result. Readers are to back up and consider what was written in the preceding verses.
What precedes the concluding parable of the Sermon on the Mount is the entire sermon, not merely a few verses. Jesus’ challenge isn’t simply to live a morally rigorous life, but to live as citizens of the kingdom of heaven and to let our lives reflect the reality of God’s rule in our hearts. This parable is Jesus’ challenge to His listeners to put His words into practice. They’re to base their lives on Him and His teaching, for all other foundations shift and blow away.
Resilient Faith
Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
Matthew 7:26
Towering dunes along the north shore of Silver Lake put nearby homes at risk of sinking into shifting sands. Though residents tried moving mounds of sand in efforts to protect their homes, they watched helplessly as well-built houses were buried right before their eyes. As a local sheriff oversaw the cleanup of a recently destroyed cottage, he affirmed the process couldn’t be prevented. No matter how hard homeowners tried to avoid the dangers of these unsteady embankments, the dunes simply couldn’t provide a strong foundational support.
Jesus knew the futility of building a house on sand. After warning the disciples to be wary of false prophets, He assured them that loving obedience demonstrates wisdom (Matthew 7:15–23). He said that everyone who hears His words and “puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (v. 24). The one who hears God’s words and chooses not to put them into practice, however, is “like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (v. 26).
When circumstances feel like shifting sands burying us under the weight of affliction or worries, we can place our hope in Christ, our Rock. He will help us develop resilient faith built on the unshakable foundation of His unchanging character. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How does obedience demonstrate your trust in God? In what areas of your life are you standing on the shifting sands of disobedience to Him?
Jesus, please help me develop resilient faith. Empower me to demonstrate my trust through loving obedience to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 04, 2022
Why Can I Not Follow You Now?
Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?" —John 13:37
There are times when you can’t understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t fill it with busyness, just wait. The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification— to be set apart from sin and made holy— or it may come after the process of sanctification has begun to teach you what service means. Never run before God gives you His direction. If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt— wait.
At first you may see clearly what God’s will is— the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, or something else you feel is distinctly God’s will for you to do. But never act on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will cause difficult situations to arise which will take years to untangle. Wait for God’s timing and He will do it without any heartache or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.
Peter did not wait for God. He predicted in his own mind where the test would come, and it came where he did not expect it. “I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Peter’s statement was honest but ignorant. “Jesus answered him, ‘…the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times’ ” (John 13:38). This was said with a deeper knowledge of Peter than Peter had of himself. He could not follow Jesus because he did not know himself or his own capabilities well enough. Natural devotion may be enough to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His irresistible charm, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will deny Jesus, always falling short of what it means to truly follow Him.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
Bible in a Year: Genesis 10-12; Matthew 4
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 04, 2022
The Man With "What's Next?" - #9127
The image of a burning candle on an iPad. That's actually the way that many people paid tribute and honored Steve Jobs' death and life. How appropriate. I mean, he was that inventive genius; the innovative marketer who brought the communications revolution from the "geekosphere" to something you could actually hold in your hand.
Bill Gates described Steve Jobs' impact as "profound." News anchors, after his death, were quick to say he "changed the world." And yes, he did. He was always a newsmaker when he walked on that Apple stage to introduce technology's "what's next?"
But then after his passing, Well, people were asking "what's next?" on a much deeper level. What's next on the other side of our last heartbeat, when the obituaries and the tributes are for us?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Man With 'What's Next?'"
Speaking at a Stanford University commencement, Steve Jobs said, "Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it." He's so right. A personal expiration date that God alone knows. And God's Book reveals in our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 9:27 that "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." So it's not only death that's inescapable. It's that personal appointment with the God who made us.
And at that point, as Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36). Not even all the religion in the world will be enough because, well, being right with God is according to the Bible, "not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5).
So there's a certain sadness. Not just because a famous man died somewhere, but because of so many lives that are more wired than ever, but more weary of life than they've ever been. No technology, no amount of Facebook "friends," no exciting new experience or relationship can ever satisfy that relentless thirst in our empty heart, and there's a reason. The Bible says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are forever searching for something that's "ever lasting" in a world where it's all so "never lasting."
When Jesus was talking at a well to a woman whose life was littered with disappointing relationships, He used the well as an example to tell us how to fill that "eternity" hole in our hearts. He said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again (and, sure enough, we are). But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13).
See, Jesus can promise life that's "eternal" because, well, He's proved He's got it to give. Because His obituary quickly became old news when He walked out of His grave and conquered what no one could conquer - He conquered death. But it was His death that made our "what's next?" nothing to fear. The Bible says, "Christ died for our sins" (Romans 5:8). And when He did that, He tore down the wall that would otherwise keep us out of God's heaven. If that wall is there when you die, then the last heartbeat you have is not the gateway to an awesome eternity, but to an awful eternity.
And that's why Jesus died, to take all of that punishment for us. He stepped out of heaven and onto the stage of earth to introduce what only He could and that's eternal life. He offers this amazing peace and fulfillment of knowing you're ready to live and ready to die, whenever and however it comes. So what we do with Him - whether we give ourselves to Him or stubbornly insist on being our god for our life - is immeasurably decisive. It's eternally decisive.
So, I urge you, if you're not sure you've begun a relationship with Him, make this the day you get that done and tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I think we can help you. Go to our website. It's ANewStory.com.
I accepted Jesus' invitation to "believe in Him" and as it says, "have eternal life" (John 3:16). So my obituary will not be the end. No, it's just the beginning.
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.