Max Lucado Daily: TRUST THE ANOINTING - October 20, 2022
You have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. God offers this anointing to all of us. When you pray, preach, prophesy, or live out your faith, you are empowered by the Holy Spirit’s presence. Lean into him. You grow weary, but the Spirit never does. Your understanding is limited, but the Spirit has unsearchable wisdom. And because he is in you, you have power that you would never have had without him.
The Spirit will give you whatever you need to do the holy work he has called you to do. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is God’s will for you: “I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit” (Ephesians 3:16 NCV). God poured his Spirit upon you! Receive him. Believe him. And trust in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 35
Harass these hecklers, God,
punch these bullies in the nose.
Grab a weapon, anything at hand;
stand up for me!
Get ready to throw the spear, aim the javelin,
at the people who are out to get me.
Reassure me; let me hear you say,
“I’ll save you.”
4-8 When those thugs try to knife me in the back,
make them look foolish.
Frustrate all those
who are plotting my downfall.
Make them like cinders in a high wind,
with God’s angel working the bellows.
Make their road lightless and mud-slick,
with God’s angel on their tails.
Out of sheer cussedness they set a trap to catch me;
for no good reason they dug a ditch to stop me.
Surprise them with your ambush—
catch them in the very trap they set,
the disaster they planned for me.
9-10 But let me run loose and free,
celebrating God’s great work,
Every bone in my body laughing, singing, “God,
there’s no one like you.
You put the down-and-out on their feet
and protect the unprotected from bullies!”
11-12 Hostile accusers appear out of nowhere,
they stand up and badger me.
They pay me back misery for mercy,
leaving my soul empty.
13-14 When they were sick, I dressed in black;
instead of eating, I prayed.
My prayers were like lead in my gut,
like I’d lost my best friend, my brother.
I paced, distraught as a motherless child,
hunched and heavyhearted.
15-16 But when I was down
they threw a party!
All the nameless misfits of the town came
chanting insults about me.
Like barbarians desecrating a shrine,
they destroyed my reputation.
17-18 God, how long are you going
to stand there doing nothing?
Save me from their brutalities;
everything I’ve got is being thrown to the lions.
I will give you full credit
when everyone gathers for worship;
When the people turn out in force
I will say my Hallelujahs.
19-21 Don’t let these liars, my enemies,
have a party at my expense,
Those who hate me for no reason,
winking and rolling their eyes.
No good is going to come
from that crowd;
They spend all their time cooking up gossip
against those who mind their own business.
They open their mouths
in ugly grins,
Mocking, “Ha-ha, ha-ha, thought you’d get away with it?
We’ve caught you hands down!”
22 Don’t you see what they’re doing, God?
You’re not going to let them
Get by with it, are you? Not going to walk off
without doing something, are you?
23-26 Please get up—wake up! Tend to my case.
My God, my Lord—my life is on the line.
Do what you think is right, God, my God,
but don’t make me pay for their good time.
Don’t let them say to themselves,
“Ha-ha, we got what we wanted.”
Don’t let them say,
“We’ve chewed him up and spit him out.”
Let those who are being hilarious
at my expense
Be made to look ridiculous.
Make them wear donkey’s ears;
Pin them with the donkey’s tail,
who made themselves so high and mighty!
27-28 But those who want
the best for me,
Let them have the last word—a glad shout!—
and say, over and over and over,
“God is great—everything works
together for good for his servant.”
I’ll tell the world how great and good you are,
I’ll shout Hallelujah all day, every day.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Today's Scripture
Exodus 2:1–10
Moses
A man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and had a son. She saw there was something special about him and hid him. She hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer she got a little basket-boat made of papyrus, waterproofed it with tar and pitch, and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile.
4-6 The baby’s older sister found herself a vantage point a little way off and watched to see what would happen to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the Nile to bathe; her maidens strolled on the bank. She saw the basket-boat floating in the reeds and sent her maid to get it. She opened it and saw the child—a baby crying! Her heart went out to him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”
7 Then his sister was before her: “Do you want me to go and get a nursing mother from the Hebrews so she can nurse the baby for you?”
8 Pharaoh’s daughter said, “Yes. Go.” The girl went and called the child’s mother.
9 Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me. I’ll pay you.” The woman took the child and nursed him.
10 After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, “I pulled him out of the water.”
Insight
Names are important in the Bible, and Moses’ name is no exception. When Pharaoh’s daughter named him, it honored both his Hebrew origin and his soon-to-be Egyptian upbringing. In Egyptian, Moses may relate to the word for “son.” Yet Moses also sounds like the Hebrew word translated “to draw out,” which the author of Exodus connected to Moses coming out of the water (Exodus 2:10). Even more intriguing, however, is that Moses’ name doesn’t mean “drawn out,” but “the one who draws out.” The name Pharaoh’s daughter gave the little infant looked forward to the redemptive work God would accomplish through him when he was fully grown. By: Jed Ostoich
God in the Details
She saw the basket among the reeds and . . . she opened it and saw the baby. Exodus 2:5–6
It had been an awful week for Kevin and Kimberley. Kevin’s seizures had suddenly worsened, and he’d been hospitalized. Amid the pandemic, their four young children—siblings adopted from foster care—were taking cabin fever to a new extreme. On top of that, Kimberley couldn’t scrounge up a decent meal from the fridge. Oddly, at that moment, she craved carrots.
An hour later, there was a knock at the door. There stood their friends Amanda and Andy with an entire meal she’d prepared for the family. Including carrots.
They say the devil is in the details? No. An amazing story in the history of the Jewish people shows God is in the details. Pharaoh had commanded, “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile” (Exodus 1:22). That genocidal development turned on a remarkable detail. Moses’ mother did indeed “throw” her baby into the Nile, albeit with a strategy. And from the Nile, Pharaoh’s own daughter would rescue the baby whom God used to rescue His people. She would even pay Moses’ mother to nurse him! (2:9).
One day from this fledgling Jewish nation would come a promised baby boy. His story would abound with amazing details and divine ironies. Most importantly, Jesus would provide an exodus out of our slavery to sin.
Even—especially—in the dark times, God is in the details. As Kimberley will tell you, “God brought me carrots!” By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
What stories can you tell where you’ve seen God in the details? How did that help strengthen your faith?
Thank You, Father, that You show up in the little things as well as the big things.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Is God’s Will My Will?
This is the will of God, your sanctification… —1 Thessalonians 4:3
Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, “Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.” No, you are not. Recognize your need, but stop longing and make it a matter of action. Receive Jesus Christ to become sanctification for you by absolute, unquestioning faith, and the great miracle of the atonement of Jesus will become real in you.
All that Jesus made possible becomes mine through the free and loving gift of God on the basis of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound, humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness). It is a holiness based on agonizing repentance, a sense of inexpressible shame and degradation, and also on the amazing realization that the love of God demonstrated itself to me while I cared nothing about Him (see Romans 5:8). He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul said that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is accomplished only through the magnificent atonement of Christ. Never confuse the effect with the cause. The effect in me is obedience, service, and prayer, and is the outcome of inexpressible thanks and adoration for the miraculous sanctification that has been brought about in me because of the atonement through the Cross of Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 59-61; 2 Thessalonians 3
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 20, 2022
HOW TO RECYCLE THE GARBAGE OF YOUR LIFE - #9334
The first time I ever flew into New York City, the man who picked me up said, "Well, you just landed on the garbage of New York." I said, "What do you mean by that?" He said, "Well, you see, LaGuardia Airport is built on landfill. Years ago all these garbage trucks hauled all this garbage from New York out here and built a place where there's now an airport." I was impressed. I thought, "You know, it's amazing what engineers can do. I mean, they made something very useful out of garbage." Did you know there's a cosmic engineer who put the galaxies together, and He's a genius at making something useful out of garbage.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Recycle the Garbage of Your Life."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Psalm 51. It's a very, very touching psalm because the point at which David is writing it. He has sinned the great sin of adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most loyal soldiers. He's then arranged for the murder at the battle front of this friend - her husband. And we now find him groping his way back to the Lord, repenting and seeking forgiveness.
I guess if I were to title this psalm it might be called David at the Dump, because he's really facing a garbage situation - the garbage of his life. Listen to some excerpts from this psalm. "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You."
See, David knows where to begin in cleaning up the garbage of our lives. You've got to acknowledge its ugliness, and he has. And he says, "Now, Lord, I'm counting on You. Please clean it up; give me a new kind of purity. And then give me a determined, steadfast spirit. I've learned from this, God. I'm not going to make these mistakes again. And give me back my joy better than ever."
But notice the result. He said, "As a result of that, God is going to make the garbage of my life into a ministry. Because he said, "I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You." Now, there's a pretty exciting concept to recognize that God can take the garbage of a sin-scarred life and convert it into credentials of His grace.
It happened to the Apostle Paul. As Saul of Tarsus, he murdered Christians, he imprisoned them. His violent past later opened many doors. He came to people and they said, "Woah! You mean you are a follower of Christ?" God turned that garbage into something very useful. It opened doors; it opened hearts. How many times have I heard people say, "You know, after what I've been through, I wouldn't want to go through it again, and I wouldn't want anyone else to. But I can have a ministry to people who are where I was."
Look, maybe you've been a victim of sin. I think of Joan who was abused by her father. But she resolved that relationship; she learned to forgive and love him, and this lady? Man, she's having an amazing ministry to people who were sinned against in the same way. Now, that's not an excuse to play in the garbage. It's far better never to have been there. But just ask anyone who's been there. But if there's garbage in your past, bring it to the Lord Jesus. Bring it to the cross where He paid for it all. Let Him forgive you and clean you up. And use the junk of your past for the good of many others.
Only Jesus could do that. It took His death on the cross to so beat the power and penalty of our sin that He can now offer us forgiveness and meaning, and turn our past into an incredible future. This could be the day that you leave all the sin, all the junk, all the garbage of a lifetime at His cross. And say, "Jesus, forgive me. I believe You died for me. I'm Yours."
I think our website could help you begin that relationship. It's ANewStory.com. The song writer said, "All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life."