Max Lucado Daily: Jesus Does - January 10, 2022
You think the moon affects the tides? It does. But Christ runs the moon. You think the United States is a superpower? The United States has only the power Christ gives and nothing more. He has authority over everything. And he has had it forever.
Yet, Jesus was willing to forgo the privileges of divinity and enter humanity. He was born just as all babies are born. As an adult he was weary enough to sit down at a well and sleepy enough to doze off in a rocking boat. He became hungry in the wilderness and thirsty on the cross. The Word became flesh!
If you ever wonder if God understands you, he does. “Our high priest, Jesus, is able to understand our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15 NCV). If you ever wonder if the uncreated Creator can comprehend the challenges you face, he does.
Numbers 12
Camp Hazeroth
Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses behind his back because of his Cushite wife (he had married a Cushite woman). They said, “Is it only through Moses that God speaks? Doesn’t he also speak through us?”
God overheard their talk.
3-8 Now the man Moses was a quietly humble man, more so than anyone living on Earth. God broke in suddenly on Moses and Aaron and Miriam saying, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting.” The three went out. God descended in a Pillar of Cloud and stood at the entrance to the Tent. He called Aaron and Miriam to him. When they stepped out, he said,
Listen carefully to what I’m telling you.
If there is a prophet of God among you,
I make myself known to him in visions,
I speak to him in dreams.
But I don’t do it that way with my servant Moses;
he has the run of my entire house;
I speak to him intimately, in person,
in plain talk without riddles:
He ponders the very form of God.
So why did you show no reverence or respect
in speaking against my servant, against Moses?
9 The anger of God blazed out against them. And then he left.
10 When the Cloud moved off from the Tent, oh! Miriam had turned leprous, her skin like snow. Aaron took one look at Miriam—a leper!
11-12 He said to Moses, “Please, my master, please don’t come down so hard on us for this foolish and thoughtless sin. Please don’t make her like a stillborn baby coming out of its mother’s womb with half its body decomposed.”
13 And Moses prayed to God:
Please, God, heal her,
please heal her.
14-16 God answered Moses, “If her father had spat in her face, wouldn’t she be ostracized for seven days? Quarantine her outside the camp for seven days. Then she can be readmitted to the camp.” So Miriam was in quarantine outside the camp for seven days. The people didn’t march on until she was readmitted. Only then did the people march from Hazeroth and set up camp in the Wilderness of Paran.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 10, 2022
Today's Scripture
Psalm 103:7–13
(NIV)
He made knownr his wayss to Moses,
his deedst to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,u
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;v
10 he does not treat us as our sins deservew
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his lovex for those who fear him;y
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressionsz from us.
13 As a father has compassiona on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
Insight
Book Four of the Psalms (Psalms 90–106), is the shortest of the five collections in the Hebrew Psalter. In Books One–Three, the primary focus is on David’s experiences as presented through songs and prayers (though other psalmists—such as the Sons of Korah and Asaph—also appear). Nevertheless, the focus is on David and his journey of faith with all the highs and lows and successes and failures that are part of his story. Book Four responds primarily to the failures of David’s rule and lineage by reasserting that God is the one true King that Israel needs. As such, the prayers and songs of this Book focus on God’s faithfulness and goodness and the hope Israel could experience because of who their God truly is. Book Five (Psalms 107–150) calls the people to faithfulness, then closes with a flourish of hallelujah (“praise”) songs in Psalms 146–150. By: Bill Crowder
Etch A Sketch Forgiveness
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12
The little red rectangular box was magical. As a kid, I could play with it for hours. When I turned one knob on the box, I could create a horizontal line on its screen. Turn the other knob and voila—a vertical line. When I turned the knobs together, I could make diagonal lines, circles, and creative designs. But the real magic came when I turned my Etch A Sketch toy upside down, shook it a little and turned it right side up. A blank screen appeared, offering me the opportunity to create a new design.
God’s forgiveness works much like that Etch A Sketch. He wipes away our sins, creating a clean canvas for us. Even if we remember wrongs we committed, God chooses to forgive and forget. He’s wiped them out and doesn’t hold our sins against us. He doesn’t treat us according to our sinful actions (Psalm 103:10) but extends grace through forgiveness. We have a clean slate—a new life awaiting us when we seek God’s forgiveness. We can be rid of guilt and shame because of His amazing gift to us.
The psalmist reminds us that our sins have been separated from us as far as the east is separated from the west (v. 12). That’s as far away as you can get! In God’s eyes, our sins no longer cling to us like a scarlet letter or a bad drawing. That’s reason to rejoice and to thank God for His amazing grace and mercy. By: Katara Patton
Reflect & Pray
Why do you think God chooses to not treat you as your actions might deserve? How can you thank Him for separating your sins from you?
Loving God, thank You for forgiveness. Remind me that You no longer remember my sins.
Read The Forgiveness of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 10, 2022
The Opened Sight
I now send you, to open their eyes…that they may receive forgiveness of sins… —Acts 26:17-18
This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament.
God’s first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, “…that they may receive forgiveness of sins….” When a person fails in his personal Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything. The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. Our job as workers for God is to open people’s eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light. But that is not salvation; it is conversion— only the effort of an awakened human being. I do not think it is too broad a statement to say that the majority of so-called Christians are like this. Their eyes are open, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins.
This is followed by God’s second mighty work of grace: “…an inheritance among those who are sanctified….” In sanctification, the one who has been born again deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God’s ministry to others.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself. The Moral Foundations of Life, 728 L
Bible in a Year: Genesis 25-26; Matthew 8:1-17
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 10, 2022
Feeling Invisible - #9131
Our grandson used to love to play "hide and seek." I didn't tell him I was pretty much onto his favorite places to hide in our house. But he figured out the best places to become totally invisible when I'm looking for him.
But being invisible isn't always fun, you know. There are people, including someone who told me just this week, who have basically felt invisible their whole lives. Oh, yeah, you can feel invisible in your family, at school, where you work, even in your marriage. It's awful feeling like no one seems to know or care that you're there.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Feeling Invisible."
I read something from the life of Jesus a few days ago that carries real hope for people who feel marginalized, or ignored, passed over. Our word for today from the Word of God - you'll like this - it's Luke 8. This woman, who's been battling an incurable condition for 12 years, has run out of hope. There are no doctors left to see, there are no dollars left to pay one anyway. She's desperate, she pushes her way through the masses that are thronging around Jesus, believing she'll be healed if she could touch His robe...which she does, and she gets her miracle.
Jesus, who, of course, mobbed by people, says, "Somebody touched Me." Then comes this wonderful footnote to the story: "Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed...fell at His feet" (Luke 8:47). Obviously, this woman was used to no one noticing her. I'm thinking, "Who is there around me like that? And shouldn't I be looking for those very people and trying to make them feel important?"
This desperate woman discovered that day what millions have discovered since then. Nobody goes unnoticed by Jesus! For Jesus, there are no invisible people. How could there be? The Bible says that each and every one of us was "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Put your name in there. Yeah, "(here's your name) was created by Him and for Him." You're not just some random protoplasm, wandering across this planet. You were created by Jesus as a divine, one-of-a-kind original, created for a love relationship with the God who made a hundred billion galaxies. He knows you. He loves you. He has a plan for you.
All those people who've overlooked you, made you feel so small, they don't know who you are! In the words of the Bible, you are "God's workmanship" (Ephesians 2:10). But that's only the beginning. Jesus thinks you're so valuable that you were worth dying for. He was nailed to a cross, to pay for every wrong thing you've ever done. Why? Because He does not want to lose you! So He died to make it possible for the sins of a lifetime to be erased from God's book, because He wants you with Him forever.
Listen to God's Word, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever (and here you can put your name!) believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life" (John 3:16). He became the ultimate victim so you'd never have to live like a victim again. Because no matter how you're treated, you know you're loved and cared for by the God who runs it all. When you open up to His love, you can spend the rest of your life handing out His love to a world of "invisible" people.
I hope today could be for you the beginning of your love relationship with Jesus Christ. If there's never been a day like that, let this be that day. Why live another day without this love? It changes everything. Just tell Him, "Jesus, thank You for loving me enough to die for my sin. Thanks for being powerful enough to walk out of Your grave. Come into my life today."
You know, if you check out our website, you'll find out there how you can be sure you belong to Jesus. That website is ANewStory.com.
You're not unnoticed, you're not invisible! Jesus never stops thinking of you. Especially when He looks at those nail prints in His hands.
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.