Max Lucado Daily: GO OUT ON A LIMB - December 8, 2022
“After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18).
Joseph was perched firmly on his branch in the tree. Predictable and solid, Joseph had no intention of leaving it. That is, until he was told to go out on a limb. “Conceived by the Holy Spirit? Come on! Who will believe me?” Pride told him not to do it, but God told him to do it.
I have a feeling you can relate to Joseph. One foot in your will and one foot in His. His or yours? Disrupting, isn’t it? You can bet it won’t be easy. Limb-climbing has never been easy. Ask Joseph. Or better yet, ask Jesus! He knows better than anyone the cost of hanging on a tree.
John 19:23-42
When they crucified him, the Roman soldiers took his clothes and divided them up four ways, to each soldier a fourth. But his robe was seamless, a single piece of weaving, so they said to each other, “Let’s not tear it up. Let’s throw dice to see who gets it.” This confirmed the Scripture that said, “They divided up my clothes among them and threw dice for my coat.” (The soldiers validated the Scriptures!)
24-27 While the soldiers were looking after themselves, Jesus’ mother, his aunt, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the cross. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her. He said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that moment the disciple accepted her as his own mother.
28 Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, “I’m thirsty.”
29-30 A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to his mouth. After he took the wine, Jesus said, “It’s done?.?.?.?complete.” Bowing his head, he offered up his spirit.
31-34 Then the Jews, since it was the day of Sabbath preparation, and so the bodies wouldn’t stay on the crosses over the Sabbath (it was a high holy day that year), petitioned Pilate that their legs be broken to speed death, and the bodies taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man crucified with Jesus, and then the other. When they got to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers stabbed him in the side with his spear. Blood and water gushed out.
35 The eyewitness to these things has presented an accurate report. He saw it himself and is telling the truth so that you, also, will believe.
36-37 These things that happened confirmed the Scripture, “Not a bone in his body was broken,” and the other Scripture that reads, “They will stare at the one they pierced.”
* * *
38 After all this, Joseph of Arimathea (he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because he was intimidated by the Jews) petitioned Pilate to take the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission. So Joseph came and took the body.
39-42 Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night, came now in broad daylight carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. They took Jesus’ body and, following the Jewish burial custom, wrapped it in linen with the spices. There was a garden near the place he was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. So, because it was Sabbath preparation for the Jews and the tomb was convenient, they placed Jesus in it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, December 08, 2022
Today's Scripture
Ruth 2:15–20
When she got up to go back to work, Boaz ordered his servants: “Let her glean where there’s still plenty of grain on the ground—make it easy for her. Better yet, pull some of the good stuff out and leave it for her to glean. Give her special treatment.”
17-18 Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. When she threshed out what she had gathered, she ended up with nearly a full sack of barley! She gathered up her gleanings, went back to town, and showed her mother-in-law the results of her day’s work; she also gave her the leftovers from her lunch.
19 Naomi asked her, “So where did you glean today? Whose field? God bless whoever it was who took such good care of you!”
Ruth told her mother-in-law, “The man with whom I worked today? His name is Boaz.”
20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Why, God bless that man! God hasn’t quite walked out on us after all! He still loves us, in bad times as well as good!”
Naomi went on, “That man, Ruth, is one of our circle of covenant redeemers, a close relative of ours!”
Insight
God gave the Israelites “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8) and commanded His people to take care of the poor living among them. Landowners were to intentionally not harvest all the grain so that the poor could glean the leftovers (Leviticus 19:9–10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19–22). God’s solution for the hungry is the generous hearts and open hands of His people (Deuteronomy 15:4–11). The law of gleaning was the backdrop for the story of Ruth. Boaz, a close relative of Naomi, was a God-fearing landowner who permitted the poor to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1–3, 20). He even ordered his servants to deliberately “pull out some stalks for [Ruth] from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up” (v. 16). As a result of Boaz’s grace and generosity, Ruth gleaned “an ephah” or about 30 pounds (v. 17) of barley, enough to last for several weeks.
Dive deeper in the story of Ruth.
By: K. T. Sim
Fast-Food Encouragement
May you be richly rewarded by the Lord . . . under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
Ruth 2:12
Maria carried her fast-food lunch to an empty table. As she bit into her burger, her eyes locked on those of a young man seated several tables away. His clothes were soiled, his hair hung limply, and he clutched at an empty paper cup. Clearly, he was hungry. How could she help? A gift of cash seemed unwise. If she bought a meal and presented it to him, might he be embarrassed?
Just then Maria remembered the story of Ruth where Boaz, a wealthy landowner, invited the impoverished immigrant widow to glean from his fields. He ordered his men: “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her” (Ruth 2:15–16). In a culture where women were utterly dependent on their connection to men for survival, Boaz demonstrated God’s loving provision. Eventually, Boaz married Ruth, redeeming her from her serious need (4:9–10).
As Maria rose to leave, she placed her untouched packet of fries on a nearby table, meeting the man’s eyes as she did so. If he was hungry, he might glean from her “fast-food field.” God’s heart is revealed in the stories of Scripture as they illustrate creative solutions to encourage.
By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
Is there someone around you today that you might invite to “glean” from the abundance in your life? Ask God to reveal the needs around you that you might respond with His heart.
Dear Father, show me who needs me to extend Your love to them today.
For further study, read Living Justly, Loving Mercy: A Biblical Response to Our Broken World.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 08, 2022
The Impartial Power of God
By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. —Hebrews 10:14
We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. “…Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect.
No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, “But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.” God’s response, through Peter, is, “… there is no other name…by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. “In Him we have redemption through His blood…” (Ephesians 1:7). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.
God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
Bible in a Year: Daniel 8-10; 3 John
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 08, 2022
WIMPY DEATH - #9369
Years ago a friend of mine told me this, "If people who don't know Jesus want to know the difference Jesus makes, let them come to our funerals."
Well, I thought of that again recently. I had joined one of our dear friends in mourning the loss of his precious wife and our precious friend. They've poured out their lives for other people in one of the world's most troubled places. And because of the violence around them, one of their little daughter's first words was "rocket." But a year ago the bomb that changed everything was a word that they heard in the doctor's office - "cancer." That week, after a brave fight against that killer, Nancy breathed her last. And that little daughter, who is now a beautiful young woman who really mirrors her mother, sang at Nancy's memorial service. And she had this glow that defied the grief. The song said:
"Be still, my soul, be still, and do not fear
Though winds of change may rage tomorrow
God is at your side, no longer dread
The fires of unexpected sorrow.
God, You are my God, and I will trust in You and not be shaken."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Wimpy Death."
Was there grieving? Yeah, I was there; you bet there was. Were there tears? Of course. Was Nancy's absence felt in the midst of all these people that she loved and who really loved her? Yeah, painfully so. But grief did not carry the day. Or the days when both John and Nancy knew she was dying. Death won a skirmish, but death lost the battle a long time ago, at a grave that was vacated forever after only three days' occupancy.
Our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Corinthians 15:3. It declares the victory this way: "Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day...Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?...Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:3; 54-56).
I saw the impotence of death! I saw the power of Jesus' victory everywhere I looked during those difficult days around Nancy's death and funeral. Just like at my mother's funeral, my father's funeral, and my own wife's funeral; countless funerals of people I have loved. And they had each taken up Jesus on the gift that He bought with His blood when He paid for their sins on the cross. The Bible says, "Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Only someone who's conquered death Himself can give eternal life to other people. And someone did, but only one someone. His name is Jesus.
And Jesus was all over the place again that week at Nancy's funeral. And more personally, at the time when the love of my life was suddenly gone. We mourn the temporary absence of one who belonged to Him. But we all knew that death had not won. All death could do was see our friend, Nancy, home; the same home that her husband and I will be promoted to some day, and our children, and grandchildren. Yeah, that's right. Because of Jesus...only Jesus.
Grief? Yes, but much more hope and celebration. Because every funeral of a Jesus-forgiven child of God is the ultimate declaration of what a Savior He is. There's "hope." This hope isn't wishful thinking or sympathy card sentiments. It's the surest of all sure things because it's anchored to the Man who blew death away when He walked out of His grave. It is a hope; it is an anchor that is one prayer away for you. A prayer that says, "Jesus, You died for me. You walked out of Your grave for me. I am Yours."
Listen, you want to get this settled? Go to our website. You'll find there the information that will help you begin your relationship with Him. ANewStory.com is the web address. Even in "the valley of the shadow of death," "we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19). In the deepest, in the darkest hour, the anchor holds, and it always will.