Max Lucado Daily: RECEIVE HIS PARDON - April 11, 2024
Acts 2:38 records the sermon of the apostle Peter. In it, he says, “Turn back to God! Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven.”
We cherish pardon, don’t we? And God offers it. He does not give us what we deserve. He has drenched this world in grace. It has no end. It knows no limits. It empowers this life and enables us to live the next. God offers second chances, like a soup kitchen offers meals to everyone who asks. And that includes you. Make sure you receive his pardon. And once you do, pass it on. We all need it.
Jeremiah 19
Smashing the Clay Pot
1–2 19 God said to me, “Go, buy a clay pot. Then get a few leaders from the people and a few of the leading priests and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, just outside the Potsherd Gate, and preach there what I tell you.
3–5 “Say, ‘Listen to God’s Word, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem! This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. I’m about to bring doom crashing down on this place. Oh, and will ears ever ring! Doom—because they’ve walked off and left me, and made this place strange by worshiping strange gods, gods never heard of by them, their parents, or the old kings of Judah. Doom—because they have massacred innocent people. Doom—because they’ve built altars to that no-god Baal, and burned their own children alive in the fire as offerings to Baal, an atrocity I never ordered, never so much as hinted at!
6–9 “ ‘And so it’s payday, and soon’—God’s Decree!—‘this place will no longer be known as Topheth or Valley of Ben-hinnom, but Massacre Meadows. I’m canceling all the plans Judah and Jerusalem had for this place, and I’ll have them killed by their enemies. I’ll stack their dead bodies to be eaten by carrion crows and wild dogs. I’ll turn this city into such a museum of atrocities that anyone coming near will be shocked speechless by the savage brutality. The people will turn into cannibals. Dehumanized by the pressure of the enemy siege, they’ll eat their own children! Yes, they’ll eat one another, family and friends alike.’
10–13 “Say all this, and then smash the pot in front of the men who have come with you. Then say, ‘This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: I’ll smash this people and this city like a man who smashes a clay pot into so many pieces it can never be put together again. They’ll bury bodies here in Topheth until there’s no more room. And the whole city will become a Topheth. The city will be turned by people and kings alike into a center for worshiping the star gods and goddesses, turned into an open grave, the whole city an open grave, stinking like a sewer, like Topheth.’ ”
14–15 Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where God had sent him to preach the sermon, and took his stand in the court of God’s Temple and said to the people, “This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies to you: ‘Warning! Danger! I’m bringing down on this city and all the surrounding towns the doom that I have pronounced. They’re set in their ways and won’t budge. They refuse to do a thing I say.’ ”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Today's Scripture
Psalm 65:8-13
Far and wide they’ll come to a stop,
they’ll stare in awe, in wonder.
Dawn and dusk take turns
calling, “Come and worship.”
9–13 Oh, visit the earth,
ask her to join the dance!
Deck her out in spring showers,
fill the God-River with living water.
Paint the wheat fields golden.
Creation was made for this!
Drench the plowed fields,
soak the dirt clods
With rainfall as harrow and rake
bring her to blossom and fruit.
Snow-crown the peaks with splendor,
scatter rose petals down your paths,
All through the wild meadows, rose petals.
Set the hills to dancing,
Dress the canyon walls with live sheep,
a drape of flax across the valleys.
Let them shout, and shout, and shout!
Oh, oh, let them sing!
Insight
God’s handiwork is evident throughout all creation—in the beauty of a flower, a sunset, a soaring eagle, a newborn baby. Similar to David’s declaration in Psalm 65:8 that “the whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders,” Job said, “Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you . . . . Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?” (Job 12:7-9). Psalm 19:1 says that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” God’s creation and creatures may not literally “sing” His praises, but they inspire those with eyes to do so—and be amazed. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord,” declares the psalmist (150:6), for the Creator of the world loves and cares for us. By: Alyson Kieda
Singing Meadows
The valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing. Psalm 65:13
I’ve often affectionately joked with my mother-in-law about her ability to talk to her dogs. She responds to their barks with loving understanding. Perhaps now she and dog owners everywhere will also listen for their canine pals to laugh. Scientists have discovered that many animals, including dogs, cows, foxes, seals, and parakeets, all have “vocal play signals”—otherwise known as laughter. Identifying these accompanying sounds helps distinguish an animal’s play behaviors from what might otherwise look like fighting to a human observer.
That animals express laughter and joy gives us a delightful glimmer of what it might look like for other parts of creation to praise God in their own way. As King David looked over his surroundings, it seemed to him “the hills [were] clothed with gladness” and the meadows and valleys were “[shouting] for joy” (Psalm 65:12-13). David recognized that God had cared for and enriched the land, providing both beauty and sustenance.
Even though our physical surroundings don’t “sing” in a literal way, they bear witness to God’s active work in His creation and, in turn, invite us to give praise to Him with our voices. May we—as part of the “whole earth”—be “filled with awe at [His] wonders” and respond to Him with “songs of joy” (v. 8). We can trust that He’ll hear and understand them. By: Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
How do your physical surroundings encourage you to praise God? Where have you seen His handiwork elsewhere?
Thank You, God, for Your continued work in creation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Moral Divinity
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. — Romans 6:5
The proof that I have been through crucifixion with Jesus is that I resemble him in both attitude and behavior. Through his resurrection, Jesus has the authority to impart the life of God to me, and my outward life must be built on this basis. I can receive the resurrection life of Jesus Christ here and now, and it will show itself outwardly in holiness.
Romans 6:5 presents an idea that runs throughout the apostle Paul’s writings: after I’ve made the moral decision to be identified with Jesus in his death, the resurrection life of Jesus fills every aspect of my human nature. Once I’ve decided my old self—the self defined by the heredity of sin—will be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me and takes charge of everything. The Spirit isn’t a mere guest in the house; he fills every nook and cranny. My responsibility is to walk in the light and to obey everything he reveals to me.
When I’ve made the moral decision about sin, it is easy to conclude that, yes, I really am dead to sin, because wherever I look inside myself I find the life of Jesus there. Just as there is only one stamp of humanity, there is only one stamp of holiness: the holiness of Jesus Christ. God puts the holiness of his Son into me, and I belong to a new order of spirituality.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 11, 2024
The First Church of "Yeah But" - #9719
You hear a lot about plea bargaining in court cases these days, but plea bargaining... that's not a new idea. Every child learns the art of negotiating his way out of his disobedience. You might call it the art of "yeah, but." For example, "You don't have your homework" says the teacher. "Oh, yeah, but the dog ate it." Or, "My grandma died." For the sixth time? See, that art is first developed at home. "You didn't call," says dad. "Yeah, but there was no phone." "Yeah, but my watch blew up. I didn't know what time it was." See, children are experts at knowing what they should do and then finding ways to excuse not doing it. Well, father isn't impressed.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The First Church of 'Yeah, But.'"
King Saul, the first king of Israel, has been given a major assignment by the Lord who made him king. His job is spiritual cancer surgery. The cancer is called the Amalekites. They are a nation that bitterly opposed everything God has wanted. They are a pagan nation, and the instructions of Saul are that he is to go in as God's instrument and basically destroy what he finds there to eliminate this spiritual cancer that has poisoned so much for so long.
Okay, instructions from our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Samuel 15:9 are that he is to totally destroy what he finds. But it says, "Saul and the army spared the king and the best of the sheep and the cattle, and fat calves and the lambs - everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely. But everything that was despised and weak, that they totally destroyed." Well, Samuel, God's representative, comes to him, and when he does Saul says to Samuel, "'The Lord bless you. I have carried out the Lord's instructions.' Samuel said, 'What is this bleating of sheep in my ears?' Saul answered, 'The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and the cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God. But we totally destroyed the rest.'"
See, Saul belonged to the First Church of "Yeah, But." God said to destroy everything. "Yeah, but they made me do it! We'll do everything that we can that's religious with it; we'll do spiritual things with it. I did some of what God said." God doesn't buy it. He doesn't accept rationalizations, excuses, and negotiation. Later in the chapter he says, "To obey is better than sacrifice. Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you've rejected the Lord's Word, He's rejected you as being king."
See, God wants obedience, not activity. He calls 'yeah, but' obedience rebellion and arrogance. God's Word on an issue is final word; no negotiating. Oh, the excuse might sound convincing to you, but God is not impressed. For example, "Do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever." "Oh, yeah, but he's a nice guy and I'll reach him for the Lord someday." God has spoken. He says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth." "Yeah, but we need security." God has spoken. "Love your enemies." "Yeah, but they're..." God has spoken. "Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure." "Yeah, but we're in love." God has spoken.
The point is that God's Word on any subject is the final word. You'll know that eventually, after your "yeah, but" leads to heartache, disappointment, and shame. Face the truth now. Don't deceive yourself by twisting God's Word to fit what you want. Change your situation to fit God's Word. You don't pull the island of God's Word to the boat of your ideas. You pull the boat to the island.
Everyone in the First Church of 'Yeah, But' is wrong.