Max Lucado Daily: He Is Not Finished - May 4, 2022
Do your days feel like a hike on an Appalachian Trail in winter? A struggle to place one foot in front of the other? If so, I urge you friend, hang on! Hang on. Don’t give up. Help is here. It may not come in the manner you requested or as quickly as you desire, but it will come. Assume that something good is going to happen. The door of tomorrow is unlocked from the inside. Just turn the knob and step out.
The Divine Artist isn’t finished. The earth is his studio. Every person on earth is one of his projects. Every event on earth is a part of his great mural. He is not finished. The scripture says in Philippians 1, “God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.” Remember, friends, you are never alone.
Judges 1
A time came after the death of Joshua when the People of Israel asked God, “Who will take the lead in going up against the Canaanites to fight them?”
2 And God said, “Judah will go. I’ve given the land to him.”
3 The men of Judah said to those of their brother Simeon, “Go up with us to our territory and we’ll fight the Canaanites. Then we’ll go with you to your territory.” And Simeon went with them.
4 So Judah went up. God gave them the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They defeated them at Bezek—ten military units!
5-7 They caught up with My-Master-Bezek there and fought him. They smashed the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My-Master-Bezek ran, but they gave chase and caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes. My-Master-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to crawl under my table, scavenging. Now God has done to me what I did to them.”
They brought him to Jerusalem and he died there.
* * *
8-10 The people of Judah attacked and captured Jerusalem, subduing the city by sword and then sending it up in flames. After that they had gone down to fight the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the foothills. Judah had gone on to the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba) and brought Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai to their knees.
11-12 From there they had marched against the population of Debir (Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher). Caleb had said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and takes it, I’ll give my daughter Acsah to him as his wife.”
13 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, took it, so Caleb gave him his daughter Acsah as his wife.
14-15
When she arrived she got him
to ask for farmland from her father.
As she dismounted from her donkey
Caleb asked her, “What would you like?”
She said, “Give me a marriage gift.
You’ve given me desert land;
Now give me pools of water!”
And he gave her the upper and the lower pools.
* * *
16 The people of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ relative, went up with the people of Judah from the City of Palms to the wilderness of Judah at the descent of Arad. They settled down there with the Amalekites.
17 The people of Judah went with their kin the Simeonites and struck the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They carried out the holy curse and named the city Curse-town.
18-19 But Judah didn’t manage to capture Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron with their territories. God was certainly with Judah in that they took over the hill country. But they couldn’t oust the people on the plain because they had iron chariots.
20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had directed. Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak.
21 But the people of Benjamin couldn’t get rid of the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. Benjaminites and Jebusites live side by side in Jerusalem to this day.
* * *
22-26 The house of Joseph went up to attack Bethel. God was with them. Joseph sent out spies to look the place over. Bethel used to be known as Luz. The spies saw a man leaving the city and said to him, “Show us a way into the city and we’ll treat you well.” The man showed them a way in. They killed everyone in the city but the man and his family. The man went to Hittite country and built a city. He named it Luz; that’s its name to this day.
27-28 But Manasseh never managed to drive out Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo with their territories. The Canaanites dug in their heels and wouldn’t budge. When Israel became stronger they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they never got rid of them.
29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. The Canaanites stuck it out and lived there with them.
30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites in Kitron or Nahalol. They kept living there, but they were put to forced labor.
31-32 Nor did Asher drive out the people of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob. Asher went ahead and settled down with the Canaanites since they could not get rid of them.
33 Naphtali fared no better. They couldn’t drive out the people of Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath so they just moved in and lived with them. They did, though, put them to forced labor.
34-35 The Amorites pushed the people of Dan up into the hills and wouldn’t let them down on the plains. The Amorites stubbornly continued to live in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph got the upper hand, they were put to forced labor.
36 The Amorite border extended from Scorpions’ Pass and Sela upward.
* * *
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, May 04, 2022
Today's Scripture
2 Corinthians 9:12–13
Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone.
Insight
In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthian believers to serve wasn’t merely an empty platitude; Paul knew the cost of serving. As proof, the apostle outlined the things he’d done and what he’d endured in Jesus’ name and for the welfare of the people of God (11:16–33). In addition, in Paul’s three missionary journeys he traveled more than ten thousand miles (most of that, no doubt, on foot), planting at least fourteen churches, including the church at Corinth to whom he wrote. Like Jesus, Paul not only talked about service and sacrifice, he practiced it as well—although his sacrifices were of a drastically different nature than those of Christ. By: Bill Crowder
A Heart for Service
Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God.
2 Corinthians 9:13
A ministry in Carlsbad, New Mexico, supports their community by offering more than 24,000 pounds of free food each month to local residents. The leader of the ministry shared, “People can come here, and we will accept them and meet them right where they are. Our goal is . . . to meet their practical needs to get to their spiritual needs.” As believers in Christ, God desires for us to use what we’ve been given to bless others, drawing our communities closer to Him. How can we develop a heart for service that brings glory to God?
We develop a heart for service by asking God to show us how to use the gifts He’s given us to benefit others (1 Peter 4:10). In this way, we offer “many expressions of thanks to God” for the abundance He’s blessed us with (2 Corinthians 9:12).
Serving others was an important part of Jesus’ ministry. When He healed the sick and fed the hungry, many were introduced to God’s goodness and love. By caring for our communities, we’re following His model of discipleship. God’s wisdom reminds us that when we demonstrate God’s love through our actions, “others will praise God” (v. 13). Service isn’t about self-gratification but about showing others the extent of God’s love and the miraculous ways He works through those who are called by His name.
Reflect & Pray
What’s motivated your service to the community? How might you be more intentional about using your gifts to bring glory to God?
Heavenly Father, I desire to make a difference in the lives of others. Please give me a heart for service. May it be an act of praise and gratitude to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 04, 2022
Vicarious Intercession
…having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus… —Hebrews 10:19
Beware of thinking that intercession means bringing our own personal sympathies and concerns into the presence of God, and then demanding that He do whatever we ask. Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.”
Spiritual stubbornness is the most effective hindrance to intercession, because it is based on a sympathetic “understanding” of things we see in ourselves and others that we think needs no atonement. We have the idea that there are certain good and virtuous things in each of us that do not need to be based on the atonement by the Cross of Christ. Just the sluggishness and lack of interest produced by this kind of thinking makes us unable to intercede. We do not identify ourselves with God’s interests and concerns for others, and we get irritated with Him. Yet we are always ready with our own ideas, and our intercession becomes only the glorification of our own natural sympathies. We have to realize that the identification of Jesus with sin means a radical change of all of our sympathies and interests. Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.
Am I stubborn or substituted? Am I spoiled or complete in my relationship to God? Am I irritable or spiritual? Am I determined to have my own way or determined to be identified with Him?
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither
Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 16-18; Luke 22:47-71
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, May 04, 2022
The Reach of Your Life - More Than You Think - #9213
When Ebola first popped up in the United States I was watching that news story about the Dallas nurse who was the first person to ever contract Ebola in America. I was hit by a lesson that I found pretty personal to me.
The authorities were talking about the "contact tracing" they were doing. They were trying to identify people she'd been with. They also did that with Thomas Duncan, the first person to die of Ebola here in the U.S. In Africa, and in America, contact tracing was a top priority in containing the spread of this medical serial killer.
The medical detectives want to know who the infected person has been close to. The list can be pretty long. And that's actually what got me thinking.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Reach of Your Life - More Than You Think."
I began thinking about my contact list. I bet I'd be surprised if someone actually made a list of all the people I'm in touch with during a given week. At the office. At the store. The restaurant. Neighbors. Family. Friends. Online friends. Social media. I think we'd all be amazed if we saw an actual list of the people we influence in some way every week.
It's a wake-up call for me as a follower of Jesus Christ. Because God says, in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5:20, "We are Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. I implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." So, the face, the voice, the hands of Jesus to all the folks on my "contact list." Wow! For better or worse.
The Bible has a lot to say about the influence of us Jesus-followers. Jesus said we're "the light of the world." People are supposed to "see your good deeds and (as a result) praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14, 16).
We're also the "salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13), making people thirsty for our Jesus because of what they see in us. Oh, and we are to be, according to Philippians 2, "pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe." And it says right before that, we're to "do everything without complaining and arguing" (Philippians 2:14-15), because those two practices will very quickly blot out the light.
And Peter said it is the "hope you have" (1 Peter 3:15) that will make people spiritually curious. That's hope, as being the living proof that things can change that we thought could never change. Because of Jesus. And things like that have changed in you I know because of Him.
And then there's the characteristic that Jesus said would be the ultimate mark of someone who belongs to Him. "All men will know you are My disciples...if you love one another" (John 13:35).
So...what if someone did spiritual "contact tracing" on the people I've been around in the past week? The people you've been around? What did we "infect" them with? Did they feel hope when we were with them? Did they feel cared about - or was I pretty much about me? Was I giving off light? Was I giving off joy - or grumpiness, edginess, complaining, stress?
Ultimately, though, for those I influence to be cured of their terminal spiritual disease called sin, they're going to need more than me being a nice guy. They could watch me for the next fifty years, and they're not going to guess that Jesus died on the cross to pay for their sins. No, I've got to tell them that. A life that radiates Jesus can attract someone to Him. It can be the living proof that Jesus changes a life.
But it can't explain "the Gospel" that according to the Bible is "the power of God for salvation" (Romans 1:16). That takes words. It takes the God-given courage to tell my story, and then His story. Of a love so great He died for me. And a power so great He walked out of His grave and crushed death.
I've been strangely challenged by that sobering reality the Ebola crisis highlighted - the reach of just one life. Well that life can infect an entire circle of people with death, or with life. The people in my path, they're not some random accident. God put them there so they could see His Son, so they could know His Son.
So ask yourself this question, "Are they closer to Jesus because they've been close to me?"
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.