Max Lucado Daily: Rise Above the Past
Maybe your past isn't much to brag about. Maybe you've seen evil, and now you have to make a choice. Do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses?
Many choose the latter. Many choose the convalescent homes of the heart. Healthy bodies, sharp minds, but retired dreams. Lean closely and you'll hear them. If only… If only I'd had kinder parents, more money, greater opportunities. If only I'd been treated fairly… Maybe you've used those words. Maybe you have every right to use them.
God is willing to give you what your family didn't. Galatians 4:7 says, "Through God you are a son; and, if you are a son, then you are certainly an heir." Never had a parent who wiped away your tears? Think again. God has noted each one!
From When God Whispers Your Name
1 Chronicles 1
Israel’s Family Tree: The Trunk
Adam
Seth
Enosh
Kenan
Mahalalel
Jared
Enoch
Methuselah
Lamech
Noah
Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
The Japheth Branch
5 Japheth had Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
6 Gomer had Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
7 Javan had Elisha, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.
The Ham Branch
8 Ham had Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
9 Cush had Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca.
Raamah had Sheba and Dedan.
10 Cush had Nimrod, the first great hero on earth.
11-12 Mizraim was ancestor to the Ludim, the Anamim, the Lehabim, the Naphtuhim, the Pathrusim, the Casluhim, and the Caphtorim from whom the Philistines descended.
13-16 Canaan had Sidon (his firstborn) and Heth, and was ancestor to the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.
The Shem Branch
17 Shem had Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.
18-19 Arphaxad had Shelah and Shelah had Eber. Eber had two sons: Peleg (Division) because in his time the earth was divided up; his brother was Joktan.
20-23 Joktan had Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab—all sons of Joktan.
24-28 The three main branches in summary: Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, and Abram (Abraham). And Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael.
The Family of Abraham
29-31 Abraham’s family tree developed along these lines: Ishmael had Nebaioth (his firstborn), then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah—the Ishmael branch.
32-33 Keturah, Abraham’s concubine, gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Then Jokshan had Sheba and Dedan. And Midian had Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These made up the Keturah branch.
34-37 Abraham had Isaac, and Isaac had Esau and Israel (Jacob). Esau had Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. Eliphaz had Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek. And Reuel had Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
38-42 Seir then had Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. Lotan had Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister. Shobal had Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. Zibeon had Aiah and Anah. Anah had Dishon. Dishon had Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran. Ezer had Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. And Dishan had Uz and Aran.
The Edomite King List
43-51 A list of the kings who ruled in the country of Edom before Israel had a king:
Bela son of Beor; his city was Dinhabah.
Bela died; Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah was the next king.
Jobab died; Husham from the country of the Temanites was the next king.
Husham died; Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, was the next king; his city was Avith.
Hadad died; Samlah from Masrekah was the next king.
Samlah died; Shaul from Rehoboth-by-the-River was the next king.
Shaul died; Baal-Hanan son of Acbor was the next king.
Baal-Hanan died; Hadad was the next king; his city was Pau and his wife was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.
Last of all Hadad died.
51-54 The chieftains of Edom after that were Chief Timna, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth, Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These were the chieftains of Edom.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Today's Scripture
Psalm 107:23-36
Some of you set sail in big ships;
you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
you didn’t know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!
33-41 God turned rivers into wasteland,
springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
they moved in—what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.
Insight
The book of Psalms is divided into five “books” of psalms, each with an overriding theme. This organization of the Psalms was done by Jewish rabbinic scholars before the birth of Christ. Books One (Psalms 1–41) and Two (Psalms 42–72) contain most of David’s psalms and are heavily marked by songs of lament. Book Three (Psalms 73–89) portrays Israel’s story from the golden age of Solomon to the divided kingdom and exile. Book Four (Psalms 90–106) tells of Israel’s captivity and bondage. Each book concludes with a statement of praise and benediction. Psalm 107 is the opening psalm of Book Five (Psalms 107–150) and celebrates the Israelites’ rescue and return from captivity, as seen vividly in Psalm 107:2–3. The five books of psalms mirror the five books of Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy). By: Bill Crowder
Prayer and Transformation
They cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. Psalm 107:28
In 1982, pastor Christian Führer began Monday prayer meetings at Leipzig’s St. Nicholas Church. For years, a handful gathered to ask God for peace amid global violence and the oppressive East German regime. Though communist authorities watched churches closely, they were unconcerned until attendance swelled and spilled over to mass meetings outside the church gates. On October 9, 1989, seventy thousand demonstrators met and peacefully protested. Six thousand East German police stood ready to respond to any provocation. The crowd remained peaceful, however, and historians consider this day a watershed moment. A month later, the Berlin Wall fell. The massive transformation all started with a prayer meeting.
As we turn to God and begin relying on His wisdom and strength, things often begin to shift and reshape. Like Israel, when we cry “out to the Lord in [our] trouble,” we discover the God who alone is capable of profoundly transforming even our most dire predicaments and answering our most vexing questions (Psalm 107:28). God stills “the storm to a whisper” and turns “the desert into pools of water” (vv. 29, 35). The One to whom we pray brings hope out of despair and beauty out of ruin.
But it’s God who (in His time—not ours) enacts transformation. Prayer is how we participate in the transforming work He’s doing. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
When have you seen God do something transformative? What’s the connection between His actions and our prayers?
Dear God, I need Your transforming work. Please change what only You can change.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 16, 2023
The Concept of Divine Control
…how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! —Matthew 7:11
Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct in this passage for those people who have His Spirit. He urges us to keep our minds filled with the concept of God’s control over everything, which means that a disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.
Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My heavenly Father knows all about this!” This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise. Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle: God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry?
Jesus said there are times when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but you should trust Him. At times God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the thought that the mind of God is behind all things strong and growing. Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord”;… The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 537 L
Bible in a Year: Psalms 16-17; Acts 20:1-16
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