Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S TRUTH DEFINES VALUE - August 12, 2022
Every person you see was created by God to bear his image and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
Imagine the impact this promise would have on the society that embraced it. What civility it would engender. What kindness it would foster. Racism will not flourish when people believe their neighbors bear God’s image. Will society write off the indigent, the mentally ill, the inmate, or the refugee? Not if we believe, truly believe, that every human being is God’s idea. And he has no bad ideas. High IQ or low standing—doesn’t matter. First string or cut from the squad—doesn’t matter.
You are a diamond, a rose, and a jewel, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Samuel 8
David’s Victories
8 In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.
2 David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.
3 Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at[a] the Euphrates River. 4 David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers[b] and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.
5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. 6 He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
7 David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tebah[c] and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.
9 When Tou[d] king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10 he sent his son Joram[e] to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.
11 King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued: 12 Edom[f] and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
13 And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites[g] in the Valley of Salt.
14 He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
David’s Officials
15 David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people. 16 Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; 17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary; 18 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.[h]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, August 12, 2022
Today's Scripture
Joel 1:1–7, 19–20
Get in Touch with Reality—and Weep!
1–3 1 God’s Message to Joel son of Pethuel:
Attention, elder statesmen! Listen closely,
everyone, whoever and wherever you are!
Have you ever heard of anything like this?
Has anything like this ever happened before—ever?
Make sure you tell your children,
and your children tell their children,
And their children their children.
Don’t let this message die out.
4 What the chewing locust left,
the gobbling locust ate;
What the gobbling locust left,
the munching locust ate;
What the munching locust left,
the chomping locust ate.
5–7 Sober up, you drunks!
Get in touch with reality—and weep!
Your supply of booze is cut off.
You’re on the wagon, like it or not.
My country’s being invaded
by an army invincible, past numbering,
Teeth like those of a lion,
fangs like those of a tiger.
It has ruined my vineyards,
stripped my orchards,
And clear-cut the country.
The landscape’s a moonscape.
19–20 God! I pray, I cry out to you!
The fields are burning up,
The country is a dust bowl,
forest and prairie fires rage unchecked.
Wild animals, dying of thirst,
look to you for a drink.
Springs and streams are dried up.
The whole country is burning up.
Insight
God was to be the focal point of every aspect of life in Israel. Yet, despite enjoying God’s material blessings, the people forgot Him. They demonstrated their godlessness by taking His blessings for granted, repeatedly turning their bountiful grape harvest into an excessive lifestyle of drunkenness. So the prophet told them, “Wail, all you drinkers of wine; . . . for it has been snatched from your lips” (Joel 1:5). A horde of locusts would destroy all the grapes (vv. 6–7). In keeping with His character, God used this punishment to correct His people. From the context of the locust plague, Joel called the people to repentance: “Rend your heart and not your garments,” he said. “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate” (2:13). By: Tim Gustafson
Drawn by Disaster
Lord, help us! Joel 1:19 nlt
In 1717, a devastating storm raged for days, leading to widespread flooding in northern Europe. Thousands of people lost their lives in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. History reveals an interesting and customary—for that time—response by at least one local government. The provincial authorities of the Dutch city of Groningen called for a “prayer day” in response to the disaster. A historian reports that the citizens gathered in churches and “listened to sermons, sang psalms, and prayed for hours.”
The prophet Joel describes an overwhelming disaster faced by the people of Judah that also led to prayer. A massive swarm of locusts had covered the land and “laid waste [its] vines and ruined [its] fig trees” (Joel 1:7). As he and his people reeled from the devastation, Joel prayed, “Lord, help us!” (1:19 nlt). Directly and indirectly, both the people of northern Europe and Judah experienced disasters that originated with the effects of sin and this fallen world (Genesis 3:17–19; Romans 8:20–22). But they also found that these times led them to call out to God and seek Him in prayer (Joel 1:19). And God said, “Even now . . . return to me with all your heart” (2:12).
When we face difficulties and disaster, may we turn to God—perhaps in anguish, perhaps in repentance. “Compassionate” and “abounding in love” (v. 13), He draws us to Himself—providing the comfort and help we need. By: Tom Felten
Reflect & Pray
Why do people often turn to God when they face disaster? How can He use difficult times to draw us to Himself?
Heavenly Father, in the face of difficulty, help me to call out to You and find the hope You alone can provide.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, August 12, 2022
The Theology of Resting in God
Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? —Matthew 8:26
When we are afraid, the least we can do is pray to God. But our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His name have an underlying confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the ones who are reliable. Yet our trust is only in God up to a certain point, then we turn back to the elementary panic-stricken prayers of those people who do not even know God. We come to our wits’ end, showing that we don’t have even the slightest amount of confidence in Him or in His sovereign control of the world. To us He seems to be asleep, and we can see nothing but giant, breaking waves on the sea ahead of us.
“…O you of little faith!” What a stinging pain must have shot through the disciples as they surely thought to themselves, “We missed the mark again!” And what a sharp pain will go through us when we suddenly realize that we could have produced complete and utter joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, in spite of what we were facing.
There are times when there is no storm or crisis in our lives, and we do all that is humanly possible. But it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the point of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him.
We have been talking quite a lot about sanctification, but what will be the result in our lives? It will be expressed in our lives as a peaceful resting in God, which means a total oneness with Him. And this oneness will make us not only blameless in His sight, but also a profound joy to Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L
Bible in a Year: Psalms 84-86; Romans 12
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, August 12, 2022
HOPE WHEN YOU'RE RUNNING ON EMPTY - #9285
Over a lifetime I've done a lot of the driving. But this time, I was the passenger. It's a good thing I was the passenger. I glanced over at this little amusement area by the side of the road. We just zipped by it, but I saw a water slide, a miniature golf course, and then I was really startled by what I saw. There was a giant, plastic water faucet and it was hanging, suspended above the ground with water falling out of it. It wasn't attached to anything, or nothing you could see anyway. There was just a faucet hanging there.
Now, if I had been driving, my insurance company would have probably gotten a call that day. Here was this faucet, apparently connected to nothing, running a steady flow of water. I still don't understand how they did it, but I do understand how you and I can.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope When You're Running On Empty"
Jesus made a promise to His disciples that could not be fulfilled at the time He gave it. But He can now; that's the good news. And if you'll claim it, you can keep running even when there are no pipes. Our word for today from the Word of God, John 7, beginning at verse 37, "Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this He meant the Spirit whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given."
Jesus is saying here, "When my Holy Spirit comes, my followers will have a spiritual fountain in them that will never run dry." That Spirit came at Pentecost, and has come into people's lives on the day they open up to Jesus Christ. If you've done that, then the Holy Spirit is in you. And Jesus said that the supply of resource will come from within like that faucet I saw in mid air. It wasn't connected to any conventional water supplies, but it was pouring out water. There was an inner source that would keep it supplied, even when there were no outside sources helping it seemed.
That's a good picture of you right now. Maybe the conventional sources of support, the pipes in your life, just aren't there for you right now. Maybe your job just dried up, or key support people. Maybe you're just in a situation where you feel isolated or overwhelmed. Maybe you're dried up, and earth has nothing that can help you right now. People, even those who would like to help you, really can't do much. You're suspended in mid air with no visible means of support or supply right now. But the security of a follower of Christ is never around him anyway; it's in him Jesus said.
God will supply what man cannot supply, but He'll supply it from the inside. That's why Paul could be as confident and content in a prison as he was at the peak of his popularity. He reached in for His resource, not around him. You never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you've got. Maybe you've been coming up empty because you've never plugged into the resource that Jesus Christ brings into a life when you give your life to Him.
Jesus met a woman at a well one day who had come every day to get water from the well. And He said, "Are you tired of being thirsty again?" It turned out He was talking about all the relationships with guys that had never satisfied her soul thirst. He said, "I'll put inside of you a spring that will well up into everlasting life. When Jesus comes in, you've met the One you were made by; the One you were made for. And you can be His. You can belong to Him and have that endless stream from heaven in your life and in your soul. When everyone else has let you down, you'll have one love that will be unloseable.
He proved that when He died on the cross for you. If you've never begun a relationship with Him; if you've never known what it is to not be thirsty in your soul again, I'd ask you to join me at our website ANewStory.com and find out how that source of peace and satisfaction can be yours. From that day on, with Jesus in your life, the well will be in your heart.