Max Lucado Daily: RAHAB - January 25, 2023
“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient” (Hebrews 11:31 NIV).
The time had come for the Hebrew people to enter the promised land. Jericho, a formidable town, was their first challenge. Canaanites indwelled the city. They had no regard for human life or respect for God. And it was into this city that the two spies of Joshua crept. They met Rahab, the harlot.
Rahab provided cover for the spies of Joshua, and she came to believe in the God of Abraham before she ever met the children of Abraham. She was grafted into the Hebrew culture. She married a contemporary of Joshua’s, bore a son named Boaz, had a great-grandson named Jesse, a great-great-grandson named David, and a descendant named Jesus.
You know, God has a place for the Rahabs of the world.
Song of Solomon 8
I wish you’d been my twin brother,
sharing with me the breasts of my mother,
Playing outside in the street,
kissing in plain view of everyone,
and no one thinking anything of it.
I’d take you by the hand and bring you home
where I was raised by my mother.
You’d drink my wine
and kiss my cheeks.
3-4 Imagine! His left hand cradling my head,
his right arm around my waist!
Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem:
Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up,
until the time is ripe—and you’re ready.
The Chorus
5 Who is this I see coming up from the country,
arm in arm with her lover?
The Man
I found you under the apricot tree,
and woke you up to love.
Your mother went into labor under that tree,
and under that very tree she bore you.
The Woman
6-8 Hang my locket around your neck,
wear my ring on your finger.
Love is invincible facing danger and death.
Passion laughs at the terrors of hell.
The fire of love stops at nothing—
it sweeps everything before it.
Flood waters can’t drown love,
torrents of rain can’t put it out.
Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold—
it’s not to be found in the marketplace.
My brothers used to worry about me:
8-9 “Our little sister has no breasts.
What shall we do with our little sister
when men come asking for her?
She’s a virgin and vulnerable,
and we’ll protect her.
If they think she’s a wall, we’ll top it with barbed wire.
If they think she’s a door, we’ll barricade it.”
10 Dear brothers, I’m a walled-in virgin still,
but my breasts are full—
And when my lover sees me,
he knows he’ll soon be satisfied.
The Man
11-12 King Solomon may have vast vineyards
in lush, fertile country,
Where he hires others to work the ground.
People pay anything to get in on that bounty.
But my vineyard is all mine,
and I’m keeping it to myself.
You can have your vast vineyards, Solomon,
you and your greedy guests!
13 Oh, lady of the gardens,
my friends are with me listening.
Let me hear your voice!
The Woman
14 Run to me, dear lover.
Come like a gazelle.
Leap like a wild stag
on the spice mountains.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Today's Scripture
Proverbs 22:1–6
The Cure Comes Through Discipline
A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich;
a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.
2 The rich and the poor shake hands as equals—
God made them both!
3 A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
4 The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God
is plenty and honor and a satisfying life.
5 The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick;
if you know what’s good for you, stay clear of it.
6 Point your kids in the right direction—
when they’re old they won’t be lost.
Insight
The book of Proverbs frequently emphasizes the importance of adults providing wise guidance and discipline for children. In Proverbs 29, parents are warned that “a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother” (v. 15), but if they discipline their children, “they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire” (v. 17).
But these general principles on the wisdom and necessity of adults providing children guidance don’t imply that parents carry all the responsibility for their children’s choices. Other sections of the book nuance the picture. Proverbs is addressed to the young (1:4–7), emphasizing the importance of every person choosing to humbly listen to the voice of wisdom (v. 20; 2:2–5) and to rely on God for the wisdom only found in Him (2:5–6). Ironically, the man who wrote those words, Solomon, would stray from the paths of wisdom as an adult (1 Kings 11:9–11). By: Monica La Rose
Fighting “Flashy” Things
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
In the 1960s-era TV series The Andy Griffith Show, a man tells Andy he should let his son Opie decide how he wants to live. Andy disagrees: “You can’t let a young’un decide for himself. He’ll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds out there’s a hook in it, it’s too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter that it’s hard to convince them that other things might be better in the long run.” He concludes that it’s important for parents to model right behavior and help “keep temptation away.”
Andy’s words are related to the wisdom found in Proverbs: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (22:6). Although many may read these words as a promise, they're really a guide. All of us are called to make our own decision to believe in Jesus. But we can help lay a biblical foundation through our love for God and Scripture. And we can pray that as the little ones under our care mature, they choose to receive Christ as Savior and walk in His ways and not “in the paths of the wicked” (v. 5).
Our own victory over “flashy things” through the Holy Spirit’s enabling is also powerful testimony. Jesus’ Spirit helps us to withstand temptation and molds our lives into examples worth imitating. By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
Why is it helpful to remember that Proverbs 22:6 isn’t a promise but a wise principle? Who can you help to “train up”?
Dear Father, help me to instill Your values into the hearts of the children You’ve placed in my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Leave Room for God
When it pleased God… —Galatians 1:15
As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him— to give God “elbow room.” We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, but we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we be surprised if God came into our meeting or into our preaching in a way we had never expected Him to come? Do not look for God to come in a particular way, but do look for Him. The way to make room for Him is to expect Him to come, but not in a certain way. No matter how well we may know God, the great lesson to learn is that He may break in at any minute. We tend to overlook this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. Suddenly—God meets our life “…when it pleased God….”
Keep your life so constantly in touch with God that His surprising power can break through at any point. Live in a constant state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come in as He decides.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
Bible in a Year: Exodus 12-13; Matthew 16
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
FEAR THAT CAN COST A LIFE - #9403
It may have been the most defining moment in a generation - the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Most of us were marked indelibly by just watching it on television. My friend Mark lived it. It was his first visit to New York, and his business took him high up in one of the Twin Towers. After the attacks, there was still great confusion as to whether to evacuate or stay in the building, Mark disregarded the announcement to "return to your office." That decision saved his life.
He made his way down that long stairwell until he neared the bottom. The rescuers were there. They guided him and a lot of others with him to a safe exit, not long before that tower collapsed in those few unforgettable and horrific moments. I'll never forget when Mark told me about the firefighters he saw as he neared the main floor. He said, "Ron, I looked in their eyes and I thought, 'They've got to be as frightened as I am.' Except I was going down, and they were going up." Is it any wonder we call them heroes?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fear That Can Cost A Life."
When rescuers go into a deadly situation in order to save lives, are they afraid? Yeah they are. Does their fear decide what they'll do? No it doesn't. When the Bible talks about rescue, it's not just referring to saving a person so they can live maybe 30 or 40 more years here on earth. When God talks rescue, He's talking about saving a person so they can live forever. Some of the spiritually dying people that Jesus came to save actually work where you work, live where you live, go to school where you go to school, participate in the things you participate in. And He's placed a rescuer in their lives so they can have a chance at Jesus, and a chance at heaven. You probably looked at that rescuer this morning in the mirror.
And what is it that keeps most of us who know Christ from actually talking with the people we know about the Jesus they don't know? Isn't it pretty much fear? We're afraid of what they might think, how it might affect our relationship, what we might lose, how we might mess it up. All too often, our fear decides it. We remain silent, and they remain unwarned and lost.
In Exodus 3, beginning with verse 8, our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord is telling Moses He's no longer going to tolerate the slavery and misery of His people. He says, "I have come down to rescue them." I can just hear Moses saying, "Oh great! Great! That's great!" Then the Lord says, "Now, go. I am sending you." I can just hear Moses saying, "Oh no!" He wants the people He cares about to be rescued, but he's afraid to be the one to try it. Just like us, when God says, "I'm sending you to rescue the people around you." God's answer? "I will be with you...Go, and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." And Moses becomes God's rescuer.
A correspondent who observed the heroism of the GI's who stormed the beaches on D-Day, he said he knew that they were afraid, but they still went in. The correspondent made this incredible observation. He said, "Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the disregard of it."
That's what will finally give the people you know their chance to belong to Jesus - God's courage in you that will not be the absence of fear. Mine has never gone away. It will be the disregard of that fear. It will no longer be the fear that decides what you do. For two reasons: one, you are simply going to be God's glove, with His hand in your life helping you do what you thought you could never do. And two, because there is a greater fear than what might happen if you do try to rescue that person. It's the fear of what might happen to them if you don't. Nothing could be worse than that.
The heroism of saving a life? It isn't reserved for those who aren't afraid, but for those who disregard their fear because a life is at stake! And you can't just let them die.