Max Lucado Daily: Unscrooge Your Heart - April 27, 2022
The grace-given give grace.
Is grace happening to you? Is there anyone in your life you refuse to forgive? If so, do you appreciate God’s forgiveness toward you? Do you resent God’s kindness to others? Do you grumble at God’s uneven compensation? How long has it been since your generosity stunned someone? Since someone objected, “No, really, this is too generous”? If it’s been awhile reconsider God’s extravagant grace: “Forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity” (Psalm 103:2-3). Why don’t you let grace unscrooge your heart.
You see, when grace happens, generosity happens. Unsquashable, eye-popping bigheartedness happens. You simply can’t contain it all. Let it bubble over, let it spill out, let it pour forth. You’ll find yourself brightening dark corners with splendor, with the promise of much more to come!
Joshua 20
Asylum-Cities
Then God spoke to Joshua: “Tell the People of Israel: Designate the asylum-cities, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally—that is, unintentionally—may flee there as a safe place of asylum from the avenger of blood.
4 “A person shall escape for refuge to one of these cities, stand at the entrance to the city gate, and lay out his case before the city’s leaders. The leaders must then take him into the city among them and give him a place to live with them.
5-6 “If the avenger of blood chases after him, they must not give him up—he didn’t intend to kill the person; there was no history of ill-feeling. He may stay in that city until he has stood trial before the congregation and until the death of the current high priest. Then he may go back to his own home in his hometown from which he fled.”
7 They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hills of Naphtali, Shechem in the hills of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hills of Judah.
8-9 On the other side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Bezer on the desert plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the designated cities for the People of Israel and any resident foreigner living among them, so that anyone who killed someone unintentionally could flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood without a fair trial before the congregation.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Today's Scripture
Zephaniah 3:14–20
So sing, Daughter Zion!
Raise the rafters, Israel!
Daughter Jerusalem,
be happy! celebrate!
God has reversed his judgments against you
and sent your enemies off chasing their tails.
From now on, God is Israel’s king,
in charge at the center.
There’s nothing to fear from evil
ever again!
God Is Present Among You
16–17 Jerusalem will be told:
“Don’t be afraid.
Dear Zion,
don’t despair.
Your God is present among you,
a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love
and delight you with his songs.
18–20 “The accumulated sorrows of your exile
will dissipate.
I, your God, will get rid of them for you.
You’ve carried those burdens long enough.
At the same time, I’ll get rid of all those
who’ve made your life miserable.
I’ll heal the maimed;
I’ll bring home the homeless.
In the very countries where they were hated
they will be venerated.
On Judgment Day
I’ll bring you back home—a great family gathering!
You’ll be famous and honored
all over the world.
You’ll see it with your own eyes—
all those painful partings turned into reunions!”
God’s Promise.
Insight
Zephaniah, whose name means “Yahweh hides,” is one of the twelve minor prophets. He ministered to Judah during the reign of Josiah (640–609 bc; Zephaniah 1:1), Judah’s reformist king (2 Kings 22–23; 2 Chronicles 34–35). As the great-great grandson of the godly king Hezekiah, Zephaniah was part of the royal family and probably a distant relative of the incumbent King Josiah. Like many of God’s prophets, Zephaniah prophesied of the future “day of the Lord” (Zephaniah 1:7), “a day of [God’s] wrath” (v. 15) when God will bring to a close human history “[sweeping] away everything from the face of the earth” (v. 2). Zephaniah proclaimed God as the sovereign Judge of history and nations (1:2–3, 7; 2:4–15; 3:6–8) and warned that He would punish Judah for her unfaithfulness (1:4–2:3; 3:1–7) while promising restoration for the faithful and purified remnant after the judgment (3:9–20). By: K. T. Sim
Sing Again
Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel!
Zephaniah 3:14
Australia’s regent honeyeater bird is in trouble—it’s losing its song. Though once an abundant species, just three hundred birds now remain; and with so few others to learn from, the males are forgetting their unique song and failing to attract mates.
Thankfully, conservationists plan to rescue the honeyeaters by singing to them. Or, more precisely, play them recordings of other honeyeaters singing so they can relearn their heart song. As the males pick up the tune and attract females again, it’s hoped the species will flourish once more.
The prophet Zephaniah addressed a people in trouble. With so much corruption among them, he announced that God’s judgment was coming (Zephaniah 3:1–8). When this later came to pass through capture and exile, the people too lost their song (Psalm 137:4). But Zephaniah foresaw a time beyond judgment when God would come to this decimated people, forgive their sins, and sing to them: “He will take great delight in you, in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). As a result, the heart song of the people would be restored (v. 14).
Whether through our own disobedience or the trials of life, we too can lose our heart song of joy. But a Voice is singing over us songs of forgiveness and love. Let’s listen to His melody and sing along. By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
When do you find it hardest to retain your joy in God? What song, poem, or prayer can you give to God in response to His rejoicing over You?
Loving God, it’s amazing to imagine that You would sing songs of joy over me. I praise You and sing my own song of praise to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
What Do You Want?
Do you seek great things for yourself? —Jeremiah 45:5
Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts— He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.
If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means. You have become a Christian based on your own terms. You protest, saying, “I asked God for the Holy Spirit, but He didn’t give me the rest and the peace I expected.” And instantly God puts His finger on the reason– you are not seeking the Lord at all; you are seeking something for yourself. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7). Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether. “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why should you ask? So that you may get to know Him.
Are you seeking great things for yourself? Have you said, “Oh, Lord, completely fill me with your Holy Spirit”? If God does not, it is because you are not totally surrendered to Him; there is something you still refuse to do. Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? God always ignores your present level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness. He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He’s continually working out His ultimate perfection for you— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance. Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R
Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 1-2; Luke 19:28-48
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Someone Else's Script - #9208
My friend, Ian, is unexplainable. He may very well have been at that time the best known Christian leader in all of New Zealand. A powerful, popular speaker and he had a great Christian TV program. If you heard him speak in any public setting, you'd have been very impressed. I was, and you'd want to meet him when he came off the stage. And he would extend his hand, and probably begin to stutter. You might kinda laugh and go, "Come on, you're kidding." And then you'd realize he's not; this is serious. See, Ian had a noticeable stutter when he spoke to other people anywhere but in a large meeting. But when he got up to speak about his Lord in front of a crowd, it's just amazing. Something happened, but not necessarily something unique to him.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Else's Script."
Now our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 6 and we're reading verses 19 and 20. And I believe that something took over in Ian in those times when he was ministering publicly and literally, that someone takes over what he says. Yeah, not just something. And that same person wants to do something like that for you. The Holy Spirit wants to do it for you when you're speaking to someone about Jesus Christ.
Here's the prayer: "Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should." Now, you can pray this prayer, you can trust God for words to say when you're representing Him, and that's something supernatural.
When you're woefully inadequate to talk with someone about eternity, I'm telling you, He will come in and as promised He will make up the difference. When you're scared to death and you don't know what to say, let Him supply the words. Sometimes I'll be listening to a person I want to share with, and I'll be thinking, "Oh, man, I have no idea what to say next. Keep talking; Buddy, because when you stop I don't know what I'm going to say." I don't know how I'm going to answer. So I fire up an S.O.S. to heaven. And when I need to respond, you know what? Over and over again there's been an insight I didn't even have a moment ago, I didn't even know. This is supernatural stuff!
If you tell God how inadequate you feel, you are at that point, on your way to being an effective representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that opens you up to a Holy Spirit take-over. From the inside out He will provide you with the courage you do not have, with the thoughts that maybe you've never expressed, words that may surprise even you. But you have to take the risk to experience His power.
Shakespearian actors say some pretty profound and impressive things. You say, "Man, they're smart. What a thinker! What a communicator! What a way to put things!" He didn't write the script. He's just delivering what someone else wrote. Well, that's how it's supposed to be when we're communicating Christ to someone. We're delivering someone else's script - God's words. And if we'll trust God for His active involvement in those conversations, well, it just takes away an awful lot of the pressure.
I've watched God turn a man who has difficulty getting through a sentence into an un-halting communicator. But only in the moment when he needs it. See, that's what God wants to do in you, but you have to show up with the willingness to be His voice in the life of someone else.
Don't hold back any more on speaking up for Jesus in that situation He's assigned you to. He put you there, He gave you the assignment, and He'll give you the script. Now, your head will make you think that the things that you are saying maybe are coming from you. But in reality, they're coming from the heart of God, through your voice into the heart of someone who really needs to hear from Him.
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.